


Cold Skin

by ImpavidDezmona



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 10:51:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10534959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImpavidDezmona/pseuds/ImpavidDezmona
Summary: Bryliriohmtoonz (Bryce McQuaid, H2O Delirious, Ohmwrecker, and CaRtOoNz) and two girls are trapped in 'The Walking Dead' game.





	1. Wake Up!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's begin the - probably done before - first chapter and introduce the main character.

I wake up feeling stiff, my head aching terribly, my mouth drier than sand paper, and the cold ground freezing me. Wait… Ground? I force my eyes open, the pure sunlight disorienting and blinding me and I fight to focus my eyes in the blurriness. When it does, I find myself staring at tree trunks while lying in a soft patch of grass under the shade of the trees. Even though I feel exhausted, I push myself to my knees to get a better assessment of the area and figure out exactly where I am. Turning around I find my best friend and roommate, Pyper, sleeping soundly with miniscule snores letting through. How did we end up in a forest? What were we doing before we got here? Maybe she knows. I crawl over to Pyper, abrasively shaking her shoulders since I want to go home, take some medicine, and sleep in my own comfy bed. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up. I want to go home.” I command hoarsely and feebly since my throat is just as dry as my mouth.

“Fuck off.” She grumbles, curling more into herself and trying to swat me away. I groan since I am definitely not in the mood for her right now; it’s a good thing she’s my best friend or I would have smacked her by now. Well, that seems like a good idea still. I don’t hesitate to smack her in the back with full force, and I dearly hope she is as hungover as I am. She lets out a small pained gasp, causing a light smile on my face as I can see her in a worse state than I am.

“Wake up! Pyper!” I shout, my scratchy voice echoing in the forest and I hear groaning coming from the trees behind us. I turn around, but I’m so shocked that I have no voice to scream as I see the person, if it is a person, who walks out from the shadows. A middle-aged man with black hair, sickly pale skin, half of his face hanging off, and his left arm missing. The stench of rotting flesh hits my nose, I hold back a gag, and I go into professional mode, walking towards him.

“Sir, are you alright?” I question, going into my nurse mode. I graduated high school a year before my expected year, so I was able to apply to a college for a year-round program, and become a registered nurse. I’ve been working at the local hospital for over a year now. It’s a good thing I’m on vacation for two weeks, but that means Pyper and I won’t be able to give a surprise visit to our families back in the southwest.

“Fucking hell, Sue, did we get drunk again?” I look back to Pyper who’s now sitting up, holding her head, but I don’t have time to say anything before I am grabbed from behind. I scream in pain as a rough hand yanks my long brown hair back and not a second later, I am pushed to the ground. I feel the man topple on top of me, knocking the wind out of me, but the weight leaves as soon as it came. I look up in time to see Pyper kick the man off the tiny, steep hill, and not long after, I hear something breaking. I crawl next to Pyper, peeking over the hill to see the man in the bushes with his neck bent in the wrong direction, as he is lifeless. “Oh dear.” Pyper whispers, sorrow deep into her throat, but she doesn’t speak as more groans come from other parts of the forest and people step out from hidden places.

“We have to go!” I shout as the people reveal to look close to the man we just killed and my instincts are telling me that we’re in danger right now. As they gather, Pyper and I run the opposite way from the hill and in a couple minutes; we find fences leading to a suburban neighborhood come into view. Pyper cups her hands together; I leg up onto the fence, sit on the wood, reach down, and help Pyper up quickly. Just as the sick people come into view, we simultaneously slide off the fence into somebody’s backyard before they could see us. Groans and bangs come from beyond the fence; we walk backwards away from it until our backs hit the porch of the house. I hold my breath as gunshots come from a distant and the groans turn away from the fence and head off into that direction.

“What the fuck was that?” Pyper rushes out, looking pale and for a second I’m concerned that she’ll pass out or something else. “We just killed someone! I just killed someone! Oh God, I feel so sick.” She says, leaning against the porch to catch her breath. I just leave her alone for a minute, walking around the yard to see where we are, but this seems familiar for a strange reason. I see a covered pool, a treehouse with childish drawings, a tire swing that I want to go on, and a pink tea set at the trunk. “Sue, your arm’s hurt.” Pyper says and I look down at myself for the first time.

I’m wearing white poncho covers a short beige flowy dress with the same color ankle boots, dark brown leggings cover my legs, and my hair is flowing loosely down to my mid-back. A brown leather choker necklace with golden tips is wrapped around my neck and a brown leather wrap bracelet is on my left wrist. My right arm has a deep cut that must’ve come from when I fell down, but I don’t feel the pain I should. I turn to Pyper to see her wearing a pair of black shorts with black tights underneath leading to her black boots, a tight black tank top covered by a black and white flannel; her rainbow hair is tied back in a lazy bun, and black sunglasses that take up half her face. She was a matching brown leather bracelet as I do, but that is our best friend bracelet. So we’re wearing our usual clothes, but I don’t understand why we’re here and what happened before or what we’re supposed to do. I shake off the feeling and look at the house, “Let’s go see if we can get help here.” I say and we head to the back door.

“Hey! Is anybody inside?” Pyper calls out, knocking on the glass door as we try to see inside. It’s so dark that I can only make out the first few feet before it’s covered in shadows and a blue screen in the far back. “Anybody at all?” With no response, Pyper slides the door open and we walk in, “We’re coming in! We just need some help!”

“I don’t think anybody is home.” I tell her, looking at a coloring book with a unicorn being colored as she looks at a bowl of fake fruit. I shake off my white poncho and set it on the counter since the weather has suddenly changed from fall to spring. The rest of my clothes can do, but the poncho seems too hot to wear right now.

“I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.” She admits, walking into the kitchen but she doesn’t go far before she screams and falls backwards. I burst out laughing, even after I see that she slipped in a pool of blood because the way she fell was too hilarious. “SHIT!” She yells, getting out of the puddle as fast as humanly possible. “That’s fucking gross!” She rushes to the sink, trying to hurry and wash out the blood before it can stain her flannel. I think it’s already ruined though, and I keep laughing at her. “SHUT UP!”

“Sorry dude, but that was too much.” I giggle out, heading to the fridge and looking at a note left for a babysitter. Well, at least I know we’re in Georgia now. Don’t know how that’s possible, but I guess I should stop getting drunk so I don’t end up on the other side of the country. “Pie, I think we got so drunk that we’re now in Georgia.” I tell her, digging through the drawers, but everything has already been ransacked and there’s nothing useful, but an old walkie-talkie I took. I even drink the stale cup of water near the sink as Pyper starts to take off her tights since it’s completely soaked through and isn’t worth saving anymore.

“Georgia? Damn. What the hell did we do? Man, I can’t even remember how we ended up here.” She says, now sitting entirely in the sink. “Last thing I remember was us talking about saving money for a couple of pets…”

“I’m just guessing that since I have a headache, that we probably got drunk and now we’re here.” I tell her, sitting on the counter next to her. “For some reason, I feel like this is familiar, but I can’t remember from where.”

“Same, but my head hurts too much to try to think.” She says getting out with minimal blood now. “Come on; let’s try to find a phone or something.” I follow her into the living room, not prepared to see a door barricaded by a bookshelf, but I don’t want to question it.

“Three new messages.” The answering announces as Pyper clicks it and we look around the room. On the wall near the front door is a child’s drawing and handprints framed and a TV is blue-screened on input. Pyper goes into a trance, looking at a photo next to the answering machine, but I leave her alone. “Message one: left at 5:43 P.M. Hey Sandra, this is Diana. We’re still in Savannah. Ed had a little ‘incident’ with some crazy guy near the hotel, so we had to get him back to the ER and have it check out. Anyway, he’s not feeling well enough to drive back tonight, so we’re staying an extra day. Thanks so much for looking after Clementine, and I promise we’ll be back in time before your spring break!” Diana chuckles on the message, but I’m sure my heart has stopped because I forgot how to breathe. That’s why this seems so familiar…

“Clementine?” I whisper, falling down onto the couch, no longer able to hold myself up. No, it can’t be. This just has to be a weird coincidence, but I have never believed in coincidences before, so why should I think that now.

“Message two: left at 11:19 P.M. Oh my God, finally! I don’t know if you’ve tried to reach us, all the calls are getting dropped. They’re not letting us leave and aren’t telling us anything about Atlanta. Please, please, just leave the city and take Clementine back with you to Marietta. I’ve got to get back to the hospital. Please let me know that you’re safe.” Diana pleads before the message ends and Pyper comes over to sit by me with the picture of Clementine’s family still in her hands.

“Shit…” Pyper mumbles as I take the frame from her hands, get up, and place it back onto the table stand with the answering machine. Pyper hurries to finish putting on her shoes since we probably won’t stay here for much longer.

“Message three: Left at 6:51 A.M. Clementine? Baby, if you can hear this, call the police. That’s 9-1-1. We love you…we love you… we love y-” The message cuts off and both Pyper and I know what happened, but this is surreal.

A moment later, the walkie-talkie in my hand comes on, “Mommy?” Pyper looks at me and I wish I could wake up from this nightmare. I turn the device to face me and hold the walkie-talkie up to my face so I could speak clearly to the small girl on the other end.

“Hello?” I answer, definitely not sounding like Diana.

“You need to be quiet.” Clementine advises, and I lower my voice slightly, going to sit at the breakfast bar as Pyper stands across from me. I’ve seen a few people play this, but I never actually played this game by myself, so I’ll just have to go on guesses.

“Who are you?” I question even though I already know the answer to the question. I finish coloring the grass on the unicorn drawing as Pyper watches the walkie-talkie cautiously.

“I’m Clementine. What’s your name?” She asks.

“I’m Sue, and I’m with my friend, Pyper.” I answer, looking to Pyper who smiles at me since I used her real name instead of a made up one. “Where are your parents?” I ask grimly, but she doesn’t know that I know where her parents are.

“They took a trip and left me with Sandra. They’re in Savannah, I think. Where the boats are.” I’m just going to believe she’s right because I don’t know Georgia.

“You’re safe, right?” Pyper chimes in, leaning across the counter to speak in the walkie-talkie. I guess she wants to talk to Clementine now, so I hand the device over to her and she takes it happily.

“I’m outside in my treehouse. They can’t get in.” Clementine says and Pyper walks over to the window to look at the girl. I go to the back door, looking from there instead.

“That’s a good idea!” Pyper comments cheerfully, leaning on the sink counter.

“See?” I hear on the walkie-talkie, “Can you see me? I can see you guys in the window and door.” Clementine says, opening the treehouse door and waving at us from there. I give her a salute as Pyper just gives her a Spock sign. I laugh for a second, but it’s interrupted as Clementine screams, followed by Pyper as a zombie Sandra attacks her. “AHH!”

 ** _҉_** **_Here I Am Again_** **_҉_**


	2. We’ll Stay With You.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter ended with a - totally unsuspected - cliffhanger, but now to see what happens next.

“GET OFF ME!” Pyper screams, catching Sandra by her neck. She doesn’t have to fight for long before I jump over the counter and pull Sandra away from her and Pyper rushes to find a weapon. Sandra flies back into the stove and Pyper throws a bar stool on her before we take off away from the kitchen. I barely make the small jump across the pool of blood, but once again, Pyper trips in it and sends us both on the ground. Since I’m the first one, I smack the back of my head on the counter and Pyper falls onto me. Everything is blurry for a moment, but I’m able to make out Pyper kicking Sandra away and turning to me. “Come on!” She yells, hoisting me up and helping me walk to the back door. Except, Sandra caught up to us, grabbing Pyper’s ankle leading us to fall, but I catch myself on the bar I was sitting at as Pyper falls to the ground. I kick Sandra off her not a second after Sandra climbs on Pyper, trying to bite her as Clementine slides open the door.  
“Here!” Clementine shouts, offering a hammer that I take in a few seconds. That’s enough time for her to crawl back, grab my ankle, pull me down as the hammer flings somewhere, and pin me down. I struggle against her hands, using all my strength to try to push her away, but my knight in shining armor comes to the rescue. Pyper swings the hammer across Sandra’s head, effectively forcing her off me, but she doesn’t stop there. As Sandra groans hungrily on the floor, but she’s pinned down and helpless as Pyper repeatedly smashes in her head. I look to a shaky Clementine, trying to figure out how to comfort her, “Did you guys kill it?” she asks, still scared and shaking.  
“Yeah, we did.” I answer, glancing at Pyper who looks deader than Sandra does. It’s been less than ten minutes and she’s technically killed two people so far, even if they are zombies. “She’s gone.”  
“It’s okay; I think she was a monster.” Clementine says. Well I guess zombies are monsters, but I would rather call them the living dead.  
“I think so too.” I respond, watching as Pyper dropped the hammer on Sandra and left the room. “Have you been alone since the start of this?” I ask, getting off the floor and dusting myself off a bit. Somehow, and very luckily, I don’t have any evidence of getting into a fight other than my messy hair. I’m so glad that I don’t easily bruise or cut otherwise the other two will see how defenseless this outfit makes me seem.  
“Yeah. I want my parents to come home now.” Clementine admits and my heart clenches knowing the truth, but I can’t tell her they’re dead. Pyper comes back with a white sheet and covers Sandra so that nobody would have to look at her anymore.  
“It’s going to take some time for them to get back.” Pyper chimes in, coming to stand next to me as we look down on Clementine.  
“Oh,” Clementine says sadly, looking down at the floor. She is so much more adorable in real life than on a screen.  
“Don’t be sad, we’ll stick with you until we find your parents. I know you don’t know us, but we’ll look after you.” Pyper comforts her and Clementine looks better after she said that.  
“Yeah, we’ll be like your guardians.” I agree, patting her shoulder and she doesn’t retract. I smile at her, before looking around the house. This is not a good place to stay; we should leave the area and find somewhere more isolated and safe for the three of us.  
“What should we do now?” Clementine asks and I share a look with Pyper. In all the zombie apocalypse movies, we’ve seen, Pyper, and I know that traveling at night is the worst time to go since it’s dangerous and dark.  
“It’s going to be night soon; I think we should get somewhere safe before then.” I say, looking outside and wondering what time it is, maybe around five or six. I walk over to the breakfast counter, picking up my poncho again as Pyper clips her walkie-talkie in her front pocket. I take Clementine’s right hand and Pyper takes her left as we step onto the porch, Clementine taking the time to close her back door. Clementine runs ahead of us, waiting near the garage and Pyper and I take our time. The adrenaline has run its course and I’m starting to feel tired from fighting Sandra earlier. “It’s a good thing we always run and exercise almost every day.” I mutter to Pyper, seeing her always slouching a bit as well. Since Pyper and I are roommates in the real world, we spend one or two hours a day at the gym; we either swim, run, or dance. We have a perfect system in our apartment, even though I make a majority of our income, I would never want to change roommates.  
“Yeah, but I can’t wait to get to the farm and go to sleep, despite the location.” Pyper whispers and I can’t help but agree. In the last twenty minutes, we’ve done some very active things when we were already tired on top of that. Out on the street, two young men are trying to push a smashed car away to make room for their truck, but they don’t seem strong enough. I start to walk towards the gate, but then I notice that Clementine is walking behind us a bit grudgingly, so I stop and Pyper follows. “What’s wrong?” She asks, bending down to her level and I see that Clementine is hesitant.  
“Should I stay?” She asks, looking down on the ground. Why would she want to stay? Her house is wrecked, her babysitter is dead in the living room, and the rest of the house is blocked off.  
“Huh?”  
“I don’t want to sleep in the treehouse tonight, but I don’t if I should leave. What if my parents come home?” Clementine asks, but I’m the one to answer this time. Since there’s no Lee, I guess Pyper and I can switch the roles of the main character.  
“We’ll stay with you.” I say, smiling down at her and she perks up. Children’s emotions are all over the place, it’s almost as worst as Pyper’s when she’s watching an anime or TV show.  
“Let’s go somewhere that’s safe and close, okay?” She says with a stern face and I know that I never want to be in an argument with her.  
“Will do, kiddo.” Pyper answers and Clementine opens the gates for us, which I think is very symbolic, especially in real life. I will consider this real life, but not in the real world.  
We start to walk in the streets and Pyper takes charge again, “Hey!” she calls out to the two men. Instantly, the turn around and are immediately scared by us, backing up into the truck getting ready to run for their lives.  
“Holy shit! Don’t eat us!” The one on the left yells. I frown at his use of foul language in front of a child; Clementine is probably around eight or nine years old. I feel Clementine clench her hands on the back of my dress, glancing down, she’s wary of the two new people.  
“We’re not going to hurt you!” Pyper hurriedly states.  
“Phew, for a second, I thought you two and the little one were ALL going to give us the chomp.” The man on the right says. I wonder how bad we look for him to think that… On second thought, I don’t want to know.  
“We’re looking for help.” I explain, smiling timidly at them. Aside from Clementine, this is the first real, alive person we’ve met and I don’t want them to know that we’re not part of this world.  
“Are you trying to get out of here? Because you should be. Those things are all over the damn place. I haven’t seen anything as gnarly as this neighborhood since downtown Atlanta, fifteen miles back.” The man informs. Great. “I’m Shawn. Shawn Greene.” He introduces, well he has manners at least.  
“Pyper. Pyper White. A lot of people call me Tiny though.” She says, turning to us, and pointing to us when she introduces. “This is Sue and Clementine.” I give a small wave, which Shawn returns cheerfully.  
“I’m Chet.” Chet says while kneeling on a knee to Clementine’s level and waving to her. I can feel her smile and she lets go of my dress. Well isn’t he a nice one; too bad we probably won’t know him for long, judging by how long the game actually is.  
“We shouldn’t be out in the open like this.” Shawn warns and I can agree with him on that. “How about you help us clear the way and we’ll take you, your sister, and your friend out of here, and down to my family’s farm. It should be safer there.” Shawn tells me and now I want to slap him. I’m full-blooded Navajo so my skin is lightly tanned, mostly because I don’t go out into the sun, and he is making some strong assumptions. Clementine is probably mixed race since our skin tones are almost the same, but I am offended he would think this. Still, it is probably easy to mistake us, so I’ll give him the benefit of doubt just this one time.  
“I’m not her sister… I’m… Just some girl. We’re just some girls.” I correct, being honest and motioning to Pyper and me.  
“Just some girls?” Shawn questions in disbelief, raising his eyebrow. I know that during the game, a lot of people went with something that Shawn would believe had connection to Clementine, but I’m not going to lie.  
“Yep.” Pyper agrees, looking over to Clementine who is once again hiding behind me. At least I am wearing a shirt that doesn’t wrinkle easily, not that it would matter right now in a zombie apocalypse.  
“She’s alone?” Shawn questions, but hurries onto his plan. “Let’s get going. Staying put for too long is a mistake.” Oh right, this game is a time-based, decision-making game; of course we’ll have to react quickly then. Already I feel the memory of people playing this game slipping away and that thought terrifies me more than anything else does.  
“What do you want to do, Kiddo?” Pyper asks Clementine, snapping me out of my thoughts and back into the real world. In this place, it’s bad to zone out.  
“I…” Clementine starts, glancing over to her house, but she doesn’t get a chance to add anything on before Chet interrupts her.  
“Them monsters are comin’! WE GOTTA GO!” Chet whispers urgently to us, trying not to alert the zombies anymore. Chet moves to cover behind their old, red pickup truck and Shawn moves to start pushing the smashed car out of the way.  
“Sue, Pyper, quick! Let’s go!” Shawn urges us to help him, keeping his voice low too. We instantly start to push the car out of the way; barely moving it until Clementine comes to help us, and then it rolls. I think in this world, there are specific keys that trigger events, just like in the game, and we’re not able to continue until it happens. So we can’t take any shortcuts in the game. After the car is out of the way, I rush Pyper and Clementine into the front seat with Shawn and jump in the back with Chet. I’m like a dog in cars, I love being free in the wind. Shawn drives away just as the zombies are about the reach the back of the truck and I let out a breath of relief and chuckle awkwardly. Since the back window is open, I hear Shawn comment, “For just “some girls,” it seems like you two have saved a bunch of lives today.” Well I guess you can say that.

  
҉ _ **Floating Through the Silence in My Cold Skin ҉**_


	3. Do You Do YouTube?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safe from walkers and heading to the farm without any - story compliant - interruptions.

The drive to the farm is a lot longer than I expected, especially since, in the game, there is a jump cut. Night takes over and I slip on my poncho once more since the free air was starting to make me shiver. I lose focus and zone out of everything as I stare at the stars in the sky; in Woodinville, you can barely see the stars. My hopes get up as I feel the car come to a stop, but when I look up, I see that we’re nowhere near the farm. On the side of the road is a blue Volkswagen with the hood popped open, and there’s a man in a gray rabbit jacket leaning on Pyper’s window. “Thanks man, I appreciate it. Only one truck has come this way, but they didn’t stop to help. I’m Ryan, by the way.” The man says and his voice sounds so familiar.

“Don’t worry about it. What’s wrong with your car?” Shawn asks, stepping out of the truck and I join him. This familiarity feels the same as when I first came to Clementine’s house, so I have a feeling something is off with this man.

I follow behind them, “I’m not sure. My car hasn’t acted like this before.” The man admits, scratching the back of his light brown, ruffled hair. I catch his dark green eyes and with a flash of familiarity going through them, I know he feels the same as I do. Shawn goes to look under the hood and I’m left with the stranger, well, with the familiar stranger.

“I’m Sue,” I greet, holding my hand out for him to shake.

“Ryan, but you can call me Ohm if you want.” He says, taking my hand and it finally clicks in my head where I know his voice. Earlier this month at a convention I went to with Pyper, I heard his voice being played by some of the fangirls and fanboys.

“By any chance… Do you do YouTube?” I ask and his eyes light up. Next second, his face begins to worry, but I don’t know why he would be worried about me. Maybe he knows something about this world that I don’t know yet.

“Yeah, I have a gaming channel. It’s Ohmwrecker or the Masked Gamer.” He informs and now it clicks. He’s only worried because I’m sure he hasn’t done a face reveal or something like that if he has the title Masked Gamer. I laugh lightly, making him give me a confused look.

“I have one and a half channels.” I notify him and he looks interested again. “I have a gaming channel too; it’s called Impavid Dezmona. Then I share a joint channel with my best friend, Tiny Impavid Games. I also am the leader of a group of gaming YouTubers that go back The Takeover Team or 3T mostly.” I tell him and I see that he recognizes the names, but he probably doesn’t watch us, because he would’ve known. “My friend, who runs her channel, Tiny Maiden, is in the car with CLEMENTINE.” I try to emphasize Clementine to see if he would notice that I know this isn’t the real word, and not in vain, because his eyes grow wide. “We were on our way to the GREENE FARM and noticed you here.” Emphasizing the farm to let him catch my drift, because I seriously need to talk to him and figure out what he knows about this. He doesn’t have time to respond as Shawn starts his Volkswagen and the car roars to life once more with no issue.

“All fixed up, wasn’t a major problem.” Shawn says, getting out of the car and walking in front of us. “I’m Shawn Greene.” He finally introduces. This entire time Ohm didn’t know who he is, people should learn some manners.

“That’s bullshit! I worked on it for a long time and got nowhere. But anyways, thanks.” Ohm says, cooling down from his first explosion. His reaction makes both Shawn and me laugh, and I can see him doing YouTube for a living, or at least a hobby. “Hey, do you guys know a safe place for me to stay the night?” Ohm asks, probably hoping that Shawn would invite him to the farm.

“Well, I guess you can follow us down to my family’s farm.” Shawn replies, instantly being a kind person and helping complete strangers.

“Alright man.” Ohm says heading to his car as Shawn and I go back to the truck. Well this day keeps getting more interesting, but I wish it’d stop. Before I’m more than half way, I turn around to get in Ohm’s car since it’s a bit too cold for me to sit in the back of the truck now. I rush in the passenger’s seat, ignoring Ohm’s confused face and rub my arms to warm up from the cool night. I want to be in Phoenix again right now where I never need a blanket. Or even in Woodinville where Pyper and I have a huge fireplace in the living room. Without another word, Ohm drives after Shawn, and I remain quiet.

 ** _҉_** **_Our Bodies Wearing Thin_** **_҉_**

I don’t zone out this time around when we drive to the farm, but I admire the fields on the way there and I feel calmer than I have been this entire time. Sometimes it’s good to take a moment to appreciate the little things in life and take a breath of fresh air. I watch the fences confine the fields, as we get closer to the Greene Farm until we pull right into the front yard. All of us get out of the vehicles, stretching from sitting in a single position for quite a while well all of us except for Ohm. He gets out of his Volkswagen, not bothering to stretch; he must spend a lot of time in a sitting position then. “Hey Shawn…” Chet starts and I turn my attention to him and his companion. “I’m a’ run home. My mama’s gonna be in a snit.” I have no idea what a snit is, but I’m terrified of it already.

“No sweat man. I’ll catch you tomorrow night.” Shawn says, and I begin to feel a bit depressed knowing his fate, but I try not to show it. In the game, he’s just an extra character, like Mark, but in real life, I can’t but feel a connection to him and his generosity.

“It was nice to meet ya three.” Chet says, waving before walking off the farm and I wave goodbye as well. He may not talk in the modern age, but he was nice and considerate; he would make a good friend, especially to Shawn. Just as Chet is walking away, the front door opens, revealing Hershel, and Ohm decides to walk over next to us.

“Thank God, you’re okay.” He says walking over to his son and I stop breathing as I compare him to the Hershel in the show. I may be a YouTuber, but meeting some of the characters from one of your TV shows is still the most amazing thing ever.

“I thought it’d be bad here, too.” Shawn admits and I frown at his statement. If he wasn’t completely sure this farm was safe, then why did he invite strangers to come check?

“Been quiet as usual the past couple of days. Ol’ Breckon down the way still thinks his mare’s gone tame, but that’s nothing new.” Hershel informs and I’m guessing that he hasn’t seen any of the zombies yet. This is definitely going to be a problem.

“I wouldn’t have made it back without Chet.”

“Well, I’m glad you took him with you then.” Hershel responds before taking a notice of Pyper, Clementine, Ohm, and me. I dearly hope he lets us stay here, even if it’s just for the night, because I am so tired that I am willing to sleep anywhere. “You’ve brought a few guests.”

“Your son really helped us out.” Pyper admits, and I see Shawn straightening up in proudness, but it doesn’t last long because his father starts speaking.

“Glad he could be of help to somebody.” Hershel comments and Shawn goes back into his normal position, which causes me to giggle a bit at him. “So it’s just you, your sister, your boyfriend, and your sister then.” I stop giggling when I realize he thinks that Ohm is my boyfriend and that Clementine is my sister. What if with this family and assumptions? And boyfriend? I barely met him!

“Oh, not her sister and boyfriend, she’s just some girl.” Shawn teases and I smile at him. Bad Sue! Do not flirt with a man on death row! So I stop, seeing the look on Pyper’s face, knowing she’s thinking the same thing. Hershel doesn’t notice and eyes Clementine; most people I meet are very protective of the little girl and I understand.

He bends down to her height before asking, “Honey, do you know these people?” Well, I just met Clementine today, so I am fine if she says she doesn’t know me, but I have a feeling that it won’t fly with Hershel. I just need to get through the night.

“Yes.” Clementine says thankfully.

“Okay then.” Hershel replies, nodding to her and he doesn’t question it further. He stands up and notices my arm that I haven’t really bandaged since we haven’t found any supplies to do so. “Well, looks like you hurt your arm pretty bad there,” he comments and I look back down at it. I still don’t feel any of the pain, which is strange but it seems the bleeding has mostly stopped and there is still dried blood around it. I guess it’s not THAT bad.

“Yeah, but I got used to it.” I admit, trying not to smile as I see that Shawn is concerned. Hershel jumps into action and I remember that he is a veterinarian and they do have experience with wounds. Well, I guess this is the best help I can get in the area. Although, I know it won’t last for long.

 ** _҉_** **_My Fears Tell Me I'll Never Win_** **_҉_**


	4. Nice to Meet You.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ohmwrecker acquired! See! I didn't make a - cliché - story with tags that aren't real.

“I can help you out. Shawn, go run on in and check on you sister. You take a seat on the porch and I’ll go see what I have.” Both of them walk away and I go to take a seat on the bench. Pyper, Clementine, and Ohm stand near the steps, all of them watching me. Well this is making me uncomfortable. Hershel comes back rather quickly, holding a bandage, and glances at the others on his way over to me. “Let’s have a look.” He says, delicately taking my arm and in the light, I see that the wound looks a lot worse than it probably is. “Yeah, it’s swollen to hell.” I don’t think jumping in and out of the truck bed was helping it heal as well…

“Could be worse.” I point out.

“That’s what it sounds like. Seems like things got awful bad in the cities.” I don’t want to even imagine downtown cities, especially Los Angeles and New York, and my hometown, Phoenix. “What’d you say your name was?” He asks and I don’t want to lie to anybody.

“I’m Sue Monrova.” I introduce with a smile and I see Pyper holding in a laugh as I use my real name. I usually just tell people my first and middle name or my channel name, but I want Hershel to trust me as much as he can.

“Nice to meet you, Sue. I’m Hershel Greene.” He introduces, staring at me directly in my eyes and I kindness radiating from them. He begins wrapping my arm and questions, “How’d this happen?”

“I was tackled to the ground,” I summarize, not wanting to go in a full explanation about being in a completely different world. In a video game.

“That so.” He’s starting to get suspecting, “Why were you tackled? And who did it?” Well, I haven’t lied so far, so I guess this is a win.

“A man, one of those monsters you’ve been hearing about. I’m a nurse, I saw him wounded, and tried to help him. It really scared us.” I explain truthfully and I see Ohm in the back looking confused when I told Hershel that I’m a nurse. I can understand, I only told him I have a YouTube channel.

“Us? Who were you with?” Hershel questions, looking up from an almost finished bandage.

“I was with Pyper when I was attacked, she saved me.” I tell him, hoping he doesn’t ask where we were at; otherwise, I can’t explain why we were sleeping in a forest. That reminds me, if Pyper and I woke up in the forest, then how did Ohm wake up if he’s from the same world as us? I’ll ask him after Clementine goes to sleep, but I’ll have to keep Pyper up for the conversation as well. That’s not going to be a pretty sight since she’s more tired than I am.

“House is full up with mine. We’ve got another displaced family of three and a couple gentlemen sleeping in the barn. You, your friend, your boyfriend, and your sister are welcome to rest there when we’re done here.” Hershel offers and I’m not going to correct him about Clementine and Ohm because I’m thankful he’s letting us stay here. He turns to the other three, “I didn’t catch your names.”

“Clem-Clementine.” The little girl introduces herself first and I smile at her shyness.

“Ryan.” My fellow YouTuber says simply.

“I’m Pyper.” Pyper greets with a soft smile on her face and I can see how tired she is.

“Can’t imagine what you three been through.” Hershel comments, making all their faces go sullen from what they’ve seen. But not so much Ohm because he’s probably been on the side of the road for the most part. Pyper the most because of what she did in the first twenty minutes of being here.

“We’re taking care of Clementine until we find her parents.” I inform him as I see him eyeing her the most out of them. Its perfect timing as Shawn walks out of the house to talk to his father.

“Hey dad, so I’m thinking, first thing tomorrow, we gotta reinforce the fence around the farm.” Shawn tries to convince his father, but Hershel doesn’t know the danger yet.

“That doesn’t seem necessary,” Hershel only focuses on finishing the bandage.

“I don’t know what you’ve seen on TV, or heard on the radio, but there’s some serious…” He holds his hand up, trying to block Clementine from hearing him. “SHIT hitting the fan.” Well he’s considerate to not speak that foul language around a child at least. “I don’t think anyone knows how big it is yet.”

“Shawn’s right, you know. It’ll be good to protect his place.” Pyper chimes in, trading our main character role with me and I’m thankful for the small break. I’m not sure if I could’ve handle anymore of Hershel’s scrutiny.

“Stuff like that doesn’t happen around here, Shawn.” Hershel reprimands and I feel like slapping him. It might just be the day, or the world, but I was never this violent as I was back in the real world, or thinking about violence. How can Hershel not trust his son about the news? Especially if he comes back with strangers that need saving from whatever is going on outside the farm and in the cities. Soon enough, the outside is going to come in, and Hershel will have open arms, or open fences at least.

“Dad, I’m serious. Sue, come on, tell him what you saw out there, girl.” Shawn begs and I try to think of what to say that’ll get the point across, but won’t be too gruesome for Clementine to hear.

“There are dead people chasing the living.” I summarize, making Shawn smile since I listened to him and not told his dad what he wants to hear.

“Well, do what you think you should. We’ve got plenty of chores as it is.” Well we got permission at least, if it is permission.

“Sue and those folks in the barn can help out in the morning. We got to do it, really.” Well, I don’t usually do fieldwork, but I’m very grateful for Shawn and I’ll do it. That’s if I’m able to wake up Pyper on time in the morning.

“I already said okay.” Hershel says and I can tell he is starting to get annoyed, but oh well. “Well, I’m all done here. It should start to feel better tomorrow.” He says, turning back to me and ignoring his son. Shawn leaves to probably plan for the morning and I hold back a giggle as I see Hershel’s serious face, and I take a deep breath.

“Thank you.” I say, more for manners since I could’ve bandaged myself.

“If your arm gets hot or the swelling doesn’t go down; you’re probably dealing with an infection. But you already know this, don’t you?” Hershel says with a small smile and I can see why people can like him. For the most part, he is serious, but he has a very subtle humor.

“If it’s an infection, what do we do?” Ohm asks with worried eyes, and I think he will make a good friend, maybe I’ll watch his videos when we get back to our world. Who knows, maybe we’ll even record with him sometime. After we get out of here.

“We’ll probably just have to shoot you.” Hershel jokes, but I see Clementine’s eyes grow wide and she starts to get scared. “We’ll clean it, redress it, and she’ll be fine.” He tells Ohm honestly and Clementine frowns at the man and shakes her head slightly. Pyper and Ohm laugh, seeing Clementine’s reactions too and Pyper is the one to speak up.

“That’s better.” She giggles a bit at the end and I feel the tension fading.

“There’s blankets and such in the barn. We’ll be seeing you bright and early.” Hershel says and that’s our que to leave and go rest, but for Pyper, Ohm, and me it’ll be a while. He asks another question, “Come tomorrow, which way you think you’re heading?” Following the storyline.

“Towards Macon.” Pyper says and Hershel heads back into his house as the four of us make our way towards the barn in comfortable silence. When we open the barn door, a surprising sight welcomes us and I have to let out a laugh seeing the two new people from our world.

“Why am I stuck with the yellow blanket?” A deep voice says with a short, maniacal laugh that sounds so crazy I want to laugh with him. “It’s not fair man!” I see him sitting on a sleeping bag, clutching a yellow blanket that stands out from his dark gray slim jacket.

“Keep your goddamn voice down, Kenny and his family is sleeping up there.” The other man replies, but it’s more in a joking manner. This one is next to his friend on a sleeping bag, bundled in a green blanket, but I see a black jacket poking out. I jump out of my skin as I hear Ohm’s voice talking from right behind me and in my comfort zone.

“Delirious? Cartoonz?” Ohm calls out and the two men turn to us in shock and disbelief; well they are definitely from our world if Ohm knows them. They’re probably online friends since he’s calling them by nicknames, and I should get used to calling them by their nicknames.

“Holy shit! Is that you, Ohm?” The one on the right with the green blanket asks, probably freaking out from seeing the Masked Gamer in person. In this situation, I wonder if they know about being trapped in a video game and I wonder if they have come across other people. From the looks of it, these two woke up together, probably like Pyper, and me but I can’t tell if they have come across the zombies yet.

“Yeah man, can’t believe you two are here.” Ohm says, walking over to the two men, who are now standing. They all laughing, hugging each other as the three of us stand confused in the doorway. Pyper clears her throat, catching the attention of the men and I smile awkwardly, unsure on how to act. “Oh yeah! Guys, this is Tiny, Clementine, and Sue.” Ohm introduces, pointing us out the two men. “Ladies, this is…” He trails off, waiting for them to greet themselves; at least neither look shy to meet strangers.

“Hey girls, I’m Luke, but you can call me Cartoonz, and this is Jonathon, or Delirious.” The one in a black leather jacket introduces with his friend by his side and they rather remind me of how Pyper and I act. I’m a bit more like Cartoonz and Pyper seems to be like Delirious.

“Nice to meet you.” Pyper says as we walk completely in the barn and I shut the doors behind us. “We’re going to go to sleep now though. It’s been a long day.” Pyper plays along, so we can get Clementine to sleep. The guys just turn on each other, talking in whispered voice, probably Ohm telling them what’s going down. I follow Clementine as she gets blankets and starts making her bed, I make mine, as well as Ohm’s since he’s still talking. Delirious and Cartoonz give us their two extra blanket so that all of us can at least lay on a blanket. Before Clementine goes to lay down, I grab her shoulder, and gently put my poncho on her. She goes to refuse, but I shake my head and she just lays on the floor silently.

There’s no light in the barn except some moonlight pouring in through the cracks, so it’s hard to make out the shapes in the barn. Clementine sleeps in the middle of Pyper and I; Pyper on her left and I are on her right; and the guys are sleeping right above us, only a few feet away. Jonathon, Luke, and Ohm are talking in quiet voices, but it’s nice not to be in complete silence, except for the snores of the family above us. They don’t mention anything about the outside world, only small talk about movies and complaining about the barn. A few minutes’ pass before Clementine breaks the silence, “It smells like…”

“Shit.” Delirious finishes, laughing for a second, before Cartoonz smacks him on the head. All of us laugh at their interaction, well besides Clementine who looks a bit startled and frowns at him.

“Delirious, don’t use that language in front of a little girl!” Ohm reprimands, chuckling the entire time though. After a few seconds, I feel the atmosphere become heavy and Clementine whispers so silently that only Pyper and I can hear her.

“I miss my mom and dad,” Clementine says and I feel as if crying now. She’ll probably never see her parents again, but she is so hopeful that she will that I don’t want to ruin her spirit. This is so much worse than just watching the game.

“I know, Kiddo.” Pyper comforts, keeping her voice down so the guys won’t here.

“How far is Savannah?”

“It’s rather far.” I answer, being as quiet as they are. I cast a glance at Pyper from across Clementine and I can tell that her face reflects the same mournful expression as mine.

“Oh, okay.” Pyper looks over at me and I shake my head as a signal not to answer her, because I know that if we promise anything, then it will be bad for the story. Silence sinks in once again and we wait for Clementine to fall asleep first, hopefully she doesn’t have any nightmares tonight.

 ** _҉_** **_Our Bodies Wearing Thin_** **_҉_**


	5. I’ll Check With the Others.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3/4 of the Nightmare Crew is here, on the farm, with the girls, where -everything - nothing goes wrong.

Minutes pass by before we’re sure that Clementine has fallen completely asleep and we sit up with the others to discuss a plan of action. “Are these your YouTube friends?” I ask, glancing at Cartoonz and Delirious, knowing these three must be close or at least talk frequently with how much they trust each other. There is also the fact that, so far, everybody from the real world is gaming YouTubers or YouTubers in general. I’m not exactly what content that Ohm uploads, but a majority of what I upload are let’s plays and Pyper and I share a joint gaming channel.

“Yeah, I play with them a lot.” He explains which causes Delirious to laugh, quite manically too; he must be the most perverted and dirty-minded in the group. He’ll get along with Pyper very well then. Luke chuckles lightly with him and their friendship makes me smile a bit. “We have another friend that joins us most times too, but he’s not here.”

“Do you guys know where ‘here’ is?” Pyper questions, the atmosphere dropping heavily as we finally come around to the serious portion of the conversation rearing its head. “It sounds so crazy to say we’re trapped in a video game.”

“I was hoping that you guys would know something.” Delirious says and I groan since these guys know nothing about what is going on. “Cartoonz and I woke up in a field then the man sleeping above us offered us a ride here. I haven’t played the game, but Cartoonz did and he told me what was going on, but I don’t much.” 

“Same thing with us mostly.” I start to explain our side of the story, “Pyper and I woke up in the forest outside of this neighborhood just before we were attacked by one of those zombies. We jumped the fence, found Clementine’s house, and just went along with the story. We can’t even remember what we were doing before we woke up in the forest. At first I kept thinking that we got drunk and ended up somewhere until we heard the message on the machine.” I finish explaining, turning to Ohm for his explanation since he was on his own.

“Well, I didn’t wake up outside. I woke up in my car on the side of the road, but I wasn’t able to drive very far. I drove maybe four miles before my car stopped and I pushed it to the side. I passed some of the zombies before that, but I didn’t fight any. I decided to just stay with my car and wait for someone to help because I have no idea where we are.” He motions to us, “Then I just followed you guys here.”

“Well this is just great.” Pyper mutters, “What should we do until this nightmare ends?” She asks, looking at the others, but we already have our plan set.

“Not sure about you three, but from all the movies and books I’ve read, it’s always better to go with the flow than roam aimlessly.” I express and I can see the guys thinking things through, but Pyper and I are going this route no matter what they say.

“I gotta agree with her. I played the game, so I at least know a bit, of what will happen. So I’ll stick with you guys until the end of the game.” Cartoonz rationalizes and Delirious, Ohm, and Pyper agree with us. Cartoonz must be the designated leader of sorts for their group, so I think I’ll turn to him more often than not as a partner.

“What game are we trapped in exactly?” Delirious asks and Pyper is the one to answer, mainly because everybody else kept silent about the matter. 

“The Walking Dead.” She answers then motions to the two of us, “We’ve seen other people play the game, but we haven’t actually played the game ourselves.” Pyper clarifies, probably wishing that we would play more mainstream games or watch more videos about them. “Have you guys played it?” She asks, but Cartoonz and Ohm nods. 

“I have, but I can’t really remember much of the game anymore.” Cartoonz answers and I have a strange feeling that my memory lost is not from the headache anymore. If he’s the same, then that means that whatever put us here first, doesn’t want us to remember the future steps.

“Same here, but I thought it was just me.” I notify him and Pyper’s eyes go wide as she realizes the same thing. “There are probably other people out there and I have a feeling we’re going to meet them along the way.” I tell them and the guys and Pyper think about it.

“Probably, but we don’t have to worry about it right now. It’s pretty late, we should get some sleep.” Ohm says and I nod in response. I slip off my thin, rimless glass off and put them to the side of my head. Who knows, maybe when I wake up it’ll be a dream. I dearly hope so I wish as I lay back and drift off.

**_~_** **_Wearing Thin~_**

_ “Hey Sue! I’m craving fast food for tonight! Let’s go get some!” I hear my roommate and best friend call to me from the living room. “I’m craving a cheeseburger and that diner is only a couple blocks away. So let’s go.” She says, walking into our office where I am doing designing a new thumbnail art for our newest video. “I’ll pay this time.” _

_ “Ugh, fine.” I say, saving the progress I have as Pyper hurries to get ready, but I’m always up and ready before the sun rises, unless I work a night shift. “Ready!” I call out, standing by the front door, fiddling with my phone before I hear a thud. “Pie, are you okay?” I begin to worry as I don’t hear an answer and rush to her room. I stop in my steps, dropping my phone as I find my best friend’s room completely empty, even though I saw her go in here. Where could she have gone? I walk forward a bit before I hear a small crack and looking down I find her phone, wallet, and keys on the ground. She would never go anywhere without them. I don’t have time to process anything before I step forward again, but I feel a cold spike running through my body and I lose reality… _

**_~_** **_And There's Darkness Here~_**

“Hey, get up.” I hear a man’s voice above me and I jerk onto my back, trying to get away from the intruder in my room. Wait… My room doesn’t smell and my bed isn’t this hard. I open my eyes to find a middle-aged man standing above me, nudging me awake and the memories of yesterday rush back to me. I was hoping that I was in a dream. I stretch my hand out, finding my glasses quickly, and slip them over my eyes so I can see properly. I feel grateful that I was wearing my glasses when I came here, otherwise my contacts would be very irritating. I sit up to find that I’m the second awake, besides Clementine who is itching herself and standing on her makeshift bed. I stand up as well, stretching out and examining my small, sheepish wound. 

“I’m itchy,” Clementine comments, scratching her arms. I get up, folding my blankets to help Hershel for later and because I feel rude if I didn’t. Clementine hurries to take off the poncho and she says, “I don’t need it anymore.” I give her a smile before slipping it on once more.

“Well you slept in a barn, little lady. Lucky you don’t have spiders in your hair.” Kenny teases, causing her to grip her hair, looking frightened at the thought of bugs on her. I hope Kenny doesn’t tease Pyper about the same thing. Speaking of her, I walk over to the other YouTubers and kick them awake. “But I bet your sister scared ‘em all away, huh?” Why does everybody assume I’m her sister? I swear that I’m not visiting this state again.

“I’m not her sister, I’m Sue Monrova.” I tell him, shaking his hand as I hear the others groaning and slowly waking up. 

“I’m Kenny.” The man greets as the others finally come around to waking up fully. Ohm and Cartoonz get up with complaining, Pyper just rolls over, and Delirious begins with a large struggle. It’s here that I remember that I will be with these people for a while, so I get a good look at all of them. 

Pyper is the shortest out of us, not including Clementine, but she definitely has the biggest boobs and has the longest hair. Her hair is dyed brown that slowly turns into a purple, light skin tone, and chocolate brown eyes. She has muscles from all the workouts we do, but not too much that shows from her choice in clothing. She’s straight five foot tall, but her boots give her an extra inch that makes her the same height as me sadly. I’m so glad that she’s with me in a zombie apocalypse because before we were here, she learned archery and she can go Daryl Dixon on zombies! 

Ohm is taller than the average height for a man, taller than Delirious and about the same height as Cartoonz, but nothing to be overly impressed by. He has ruffled medium brown hair that looks styled that way, natural skin tone that is neither pale now tan, and hazel eyes. He looks like he can throw a punch even without his nonexistent muscles, but he doesn’t look completely out of shape. He’s wearing a simple black T-shirt with a gold owl logo; black skinny jeans; dark gray trainers, and a gray undershirt peeking from the collar. He doesn’t look much of a fighter, but I can see him and his sharp eyes as a sniper and would be someone that could handle a gun well.

Delirious seems shorter than most men, especially since he’s the shortest man that I’ve met so far since I woke up here. He has short, blonde hair with no special haircut, natural skin that is darker than Pyper’s, and dark blue eyes. He definitely has muscles despite his height and looks like he knows how to fight more hand-to-hand combat style than using weapons. He’s wearing a slim gray hoodie; regular black jeans; dark blue Nike shoes; a black T-shirt under the hoodie; and a baseball cap with a Batman logo. He seems to be a little fiery that is underestimated, but exceeds expectations and I can see him being good on the front lines in a fight or on a run.

Cartoonz seems the most normal height, about the same as Kenny and being between Delirious and Ohm’s height. He has a brown, fade haircut that slides down to a full beard, natural fair skin tone that is the lightest in the group, and medium brown eyes. He looks the strongest in the group with a bulky build and slight muscles that add to his strength. He’s wearing a black leather hoodie jacket, regular gray jeans; a pair of black shoes; and white T-shirt. He seems to have the skills and strength of being a good leader, but also being part of the action on runs and protecting. He’ll most likely be my comrade with dealing this game.

Finally, there am I with small height, but still being taller than Pyper and being able to prove my entire self despite being looked down. Long dark brown hair with reddish tint in the sun, lightly tanned skin that would be darker if I went into the sun, and brown eyes that are almost black. I always workout with Pyper almost every day and focus on eating healthy, so I have slight muscles and a healthy body that can learn to fight. Since Pyper and I mostly dance, run, and swim for workouts, I think I will be better off melee fighting or running along with Ohm. I ever learned to do basic self-defense in high school, but I love learning, so why should I not help protect? I think Pyper, Cartoonz, and I will mainly lead the group and protect Clementine. 

“Dad!” A little boy calls, making Pyper jerk awake fully just as the others finish cleaning and piling their bed sets. “We’re gonna build a fence! There’s a tractor and everything!” The kid shouts before running off again and I am starting to like him based on how fast he got Pyper moving. Finally, once all of us are up, Kenny begins speaking again and I need to tell the others that this world has triggers to lead to the next event before I forget again.

“We better get going or we won’t hear the end of it.” Kenny warns, heading out of the barn with the rest of us trailing after him “That’s my boy, Ken Junior. We call him Duck, though.” I hold back a laugh, but behind me, I hear a variety of snickers and laughs from all except Cartoonz.

“Dodging or quacking?” Cartoonz teases, making Kenny smirk.

“Quacking.” I snort, trying to hide it behind a cough just as Duck begins quacking again.

“DAAAAD!” Duck calls out, even though we are not that far away, and the others behind us begin laughing again and they distinctly remind me of hyenas. 

“See?” Kenny adds as his son proves the statement. They cool off by the time we reach Duck and Katjaa though, and we’re able to do introductions. “The word is that you were on your way to Macon.” Kenny comments, nodding to Pyper, Ohm, Clementine, and me. I look back at the others since Cartoonz and I are leading the group and notice that some of them look confused and it comes down to me. “Well, Macon’s on the way, and personally I would appreciate the company of a girl who could knock a couple heads together if she has to.” Kenny whispers where the others can’t hear, but I know Pyper will probably ask me later.

“I’ll check with the others.” I rationalize, even though I know that we’ll eventually have to head to Macon to continue the game and possibly go back home. 

“Consulting with the group, I can respect that,” Kenny comments before he turns to his family. “Honey, Duck, these are Sue, and uh... what are the other people’s names?” Kenny drifts off, waiting for them to introduce themselves since they haven’t met officially.

“This is Cartoonz,” I start, turning around and pointing out each of them with two fingers. “Little Clementine of course, Tiny, Delirious, and Ohm.” I turn back around, “I’m Sue.” I greet, shaking her hand and probably making myself the head of the group. I’m probably the youngest besides Clementine too.

“That is a very pretty name, Clementine.” Katjaa compliments, warming Clementine up to these strangers, I’m not even sure if she’s comfortable around Ohm and his friends. She will have to eventually, but for now, I can try to help her out, but I’m not great with kids. I think Pyper will be able to connect with her more; I’ll talk to her about it when we arrive at the Everett’s drugstore.

“Thanks.” Clementine says, peeking out from behind Pyper where she’s slightly hiding from the people. If I was an eight-year-old girl that left home with a couple strangers to an isolated farm filled with more strangers, I would be terrified too. She is saved from having to speak even more as Shawn walks up to the group and I remember that Hershel is reluctantly letting up reinforce the farm fence.

“Well, we should get to work. Most of us have seen what those things can do out there so the faster we get this fence up, the better.” Shawn explains, Duck practically jumping excited next to him and I try not to smile too kindly at him. He’s literally going to die in about ten minutes, maybe less considering more of us can cover the groundwork of talking to the characters.

“I want to build a fence!” Duck hypes, looking at his parents.

“Yeah? Well I need a good foreman. You can sit on the tractor and yell at me whenever I take a water break.” Shawn suggests, riling up Duck even more that I giggle slightly at the kid’s reaction.

“On the tractor? Cool!” Duck agrees, but I know this is the kind way to make sure that he doesn’t get in the way. Oh the irony.

“Duck and I will hop to it!” Shawn walks to the back of the house with Duck in tow. Katjaa and Kenny turn back to my group and me after they’re out of sight. 

“I can keep an eye on your little sister here on the porch. We can visit.” Katjaa offers me and I start chuckling again. Why do people always assume I’m her sister? Her words immediately set pace again and Kenny walks over to his truck to start fixing as Clementine takes a seat next to Katjaa. I turn to the others, to try and set a plan.

**_҉_** **_Darkness Here_** **_҉_**


	6. Damn.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie - ironic since my nickname is Lies - I cried a bit writing this bit.

“Do you guys have anything to do?” I question, making sure who is available before I begin assigning tasks. 

“Well, I need help with my car; I’m still not sure why it stopped.” Ohm admits and gestures to his car opposite of Kenny’s truck. Thankfully, Cartoonz has a solution since I don’t know their skills yet and I know neither Pyper nor I are mechanical.

“I know how to work on cars; I worked on mine a lot.” Cartoonz offered as they walked off to the car, discussing things that I will probably never understand. This left Delirious, Pyper, and me to talk to the different characters and Pyper or I have to talk to Shawn and Hershel. Well, since I talked to Hershel last night, I’ll go talk to Shawn, Pyper can help comfort Clementine by talking to her and Katjaa, and then that leaves Delirious with talking to Kenny.

“Alright, Pie, go talk with the girls and Delirious, can you go handle Kenny?” I ask and they nod before heading off to their characters and I go around back to Shawn. I find him nailing the fence as Duck is on the tractor, pretending to be the foreman, “Hey Shawn, hi Duck.” I greet sweetly.

“Hey Sue.” Shawn greets, continuing his work on the fence, not that I want to bother him.

“Want some help?” I ask kindly.

“That’d be great. If you can cut those two-bys to length, that’d sure speed things up.” Shawn points over to the wood, getting off the floor to show me. I follow his orders without question and listen as he begins talking, “My dad doesn’t know how bad it is.”

“That’s for sure.” I agree, remembering last night at how reluctant he was to reinforce the fence. I wonder if I hadn’t been there, trying to back of Shawn, if he would even let him work on the fence right now. “Makes me wonder how many people don’t understand as well.”

“I saw a guy in Atlanta kill a kid. A boy. Just shot him right in the face.” Shawn admits and I start to feel tears coming even imagining that moment. I just focus on cutting the wood, letting a rare swear word leave my lips.

“Damn.” I whisper loud enough for Shawn to hear, but not for Duck, who isn’t even paying attention to us. I try not to swear because when I work at hospitals, I occasionally work around children and I don’t want to be a bad influence. In this situation, I don’t know a word strong enough to describe it.

“No shit, damn.” Shawn loosely uses the words. “He didn’t even hesitate. He just turned, put the barrel of the gun right between the kid’s eyes, and pulled the trigger.” He explains and I don’t even know how to feel. Depressed because this world is going under, relief because this isn’t the actual real world, or sympathy because Shawn to witness the event. “You don’t see things like that. It’s not like in the movies.” Or in video games in this case.

“It’s not as easy as you think.” I admit to Shawn, thinking about Sandra and the other zombie that Pyper and I have come across. I cringe remembering the bone-snapping fall the first zombie made as he fell from the small cliff and the sickening squish as Pyper drove the hammer repeatedly into Sandra’s head. Bones are not meant to bend the way they were, blood is meant to remain in the body, and humans should not have to kill one another to survive.

“Did you have to do it?’ Shawn questions and I let a single tear slip out of my left eye, where Shawn can’t see it fall.

“Did I have to do what?” I play innocent, mentally preparing an answer to give him.

“Kill. Have you had to off one yet?” Shawn asks and I take a deep breath.

“No, I didn’t. My best friend did. Pyper had to protect me from one.” I explain, not wanting to go in details as he did to me.

“I could do it to protect someone. Maybe if it was very dire.” Shawn explains, turning back to work. “I’m just glad we’re getting this fence built. Dad just wants to keep the family safe and thinks inviting people in is a bigger threat than whatever’s out there.” Shawn explains and I can understand where his father is coming from, even if I don’t agree with him. “How about yours? How’s your family?” He asks and this is a question I don’t mind answering.

“My family is in our homeland in New Mexico, or at least most of them I hope.” I tell him since most of my family is in the four corners at the very least. Even though I don’t talk to a majority of them anymore.

“I hope so too. Maybe it’s not so bad there.” He offers and I give him a small smile he returns. “That’s probably all I need cut for now. Thanks.” Shawn says before I cut could into the next board. I am so gratefully since I’m definitely not that strong and my arms are already feeling tired, especially since my arm hasn’t fully healed.

“Hey Shawn, thank you for the lift.” I finally thank him for getting us out of that very dangerous neighborhood.

“No problem, Sue. Couldn’t leave you behind.” Woah, he better not be flirting with me because stuff is about to go down one I talk to his father. “Anyway, when you see my dad around, he might want some help in the barn.” I glance at the barn just in time to see Hershel entering the barn with a pitchfork. I look at perfectly health Shawn one last time before heading towards the barn.

I don’t get far before I am intercepted, “Hey Sue! We fixed my car!” Ohm announces, cutting in front of me with Cartoonz walking next to him. 

“We? You motherfucker, I fixed his car!” Cartoonz says, taking his credit as they both laugh of the situation. I laugh along, glad these guys are here to give me back some of the cheerfulness that I need; perhaps I could be friends with all of them.

“Good job, you guys can go help Shawn reinforce the fence,” I tell them, continuing my way to the barn, not looking back to see what they do. I walk into the barn; Hershel just looks up with a slight scowl, and continues shuffling the hay. I stand near the door for a moment before he begins the conversation.

“How’d you get out of Atlanta?” He questions and I know that I will have to be honest as I possibly can without revealing anything about the others.

“To be honest, I don’t even know. Pyper and I woke up hungover in a forest when we are supposed to be in Washington. We walked until we came across Shawn.” I tell him, not caring if he knows we drink. We are legal and we’re safe when we do.

“Hmm… Well you’re no worse for wear.” Hershel comments and I feel the tension slamming down on me, so I quickly switch the subjects.

“You got a nice farmland here.” I comment, looking around the bar in awe. It’s amazing that only one family can hold up a farm such as this one; I’ve never seen one. I’ve only seen the fields own by a company in my hometown. Well that and the small plots of land my family owns.

“Heh, had you told me twenty years ago that I’d still be doing this, I would told you that you were full of crap.” Hershel admits and I chuckle at imaging a Hershel that didn’t do farming. “Never was the plan, having a place like this. It was in the family and I guess so was I. Family’s important; it’s all that matters. You agree with that?” Hershel interrogates and I agree with him without question. I believe family is important, but I also think friends matter just as much. Maybe even more. We’re given family from the start, but we hand pick our friends and it’s our duty to keep them close or not. 

“That’s how I was raised.” I tell him, staring him straight in the eye to let him know that I’m being honest. Although, to me, my friends are more important.

“Where’s your family now? Parents? Husband? Boyfriend?” Hershel asks and I feel as if laughing at the last two, but I hold it in.

“My parents divorced in Arizona and New Mexico with my sisters, and I’m currently not in a relationship. Trying to focus on my career in Washington.” I explain, trying to let him know that I am responsible aside from the fact of drinking and waking up across the country.

“Well I hope they’re all right.” Hershel gives his wishes and I take them to heart. “But now you’ve got this little girl to take care of. Clementine was it? You just stumbled up-on her?” Hershel asks for confirmation and I hold my ground while speaking to him.

“Pyper and I were looking for help in her house.” I answer, being completely honest since we did jump the fence into her backyard. He makes a sound of disapproval, stabbing his pitchfork into the hay, walking over to me, standing over me by several inches.

“Can I give you a piece of advice?” He offers darkly, trying to be intimidating, but I don’t get scared easily. I nod as an answer.

“I don’t know who you are or what you did. Let’s say things don’t get better back in the cities. Or they worse before they do. You’re going to have to depend on the honesty of strangers if you’re going to make it. And if those same people get to questioning yours, you’re going to be in trouble.” Well, Hershel, you are not a very good judge of character since I have been completely honest with you. “But at least you have the common sense to listen to a man giving you advice.” We can’t continue the conversation as several sets of screams go off towards the back of the farm. Oh no, it’s time…

“Go! I’ll get my gun!” Hershel commands as we run out of the barn. I run past Katjaa, going straight to the fence where Clementine is watching the entire event with Delirious and Pyper pulling her back. I run over to the fence in the back to witness a horrible scene that I just want to puke in the bush to my left, but there’s no time. Shawn is stuck under the tractor with zombies trying to break the fence next to him; Duck is being pulled back by a zombie from his spot on the tractor; and Ohm is on the other side of Shawn being pulled over the fence by zombies and Cartoonz holding onto him. Pyper instantly takes Clementine away from the danger as Delirious runs to help his friend and I am left with the choice. I don’t even think twice before running to help Duck because he is an innocent child that hasn’t even lived his life yet. I try to pull Duck away from the zombie, but I am not strong enough.

“DON’T LET ‘EM TAKE ME!” He shouts and a second later, his dad is running to help me save Duck. Kenny pulls Duck away as I shove the zombie off, most likely hurting my wound more, but I don’t care as I save Duck.

“I got you!” Kenny says as Duck is released from the hold and he carries him off the tractor as Shawn starts screaming.

“They’re almost through!” Shawn warns. “GET THIS TRACTOR OFF OF ME!” Kenny and I look towards him, but Kenny takes off in the other direction. “SUE HELP ME PLEASE!” Just as I run and I’m about to reach him, the fence breaks and I watch in horror. The sound of his flesh being dung into being covered by the heart-wrenching sobs of pain as the zombies feast on him. One goes straight to his back leg, but the more gruesome one launches right onto his neck. I cover my mouth to hide a scream, tears flowing freely from my eyes as I watch a humble, brave man being torn apart by disgusting, soulless creatures that shouldn’t exist. I don’t even notice Hershel is here until I hear five shots going off. Three for the zombies that were after Shawn and two for the ones that had a strong hold on Ohm’s jacket. The group huddles together, reuniting with Pyper and Clementine, just as Hershel leans down to his son.

“Get out.” Hershel says and most of my group except Clementine, Pyper, and I head off to Ohm’s newly fixed car. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!” He shouts and I feel the heavy weight of guilt sinking me down to the ground.

“I’m sorry.” Kenny says, his family not scrambling away as my group did. Instead all of them look incredibly mournful, especially Duck, but that’s probably because he caused this huge mess. Not that I can fully blame him.

“SORRY? Your son is alive. You don’t get to be sorry.” Hershel argues, not accepting his apology before turning to me. “And YOU. You didn’t even try to help.” THAT JERK! I saved kid’s life and there was no time to save both. I watched somebody’s child die, somebody’s friend, somebody’s everything, and I watched somebody die who was just like me! How dare he say that! I tried with all that I could…

“I tried to help both of them.” I answer, and my voice is strong, but a bit shaky and breaking. I look up to him, not caring about the tear marks still there and look him straight in the eye. I tried.

“Look at him. You thought wrong. And now…” He trails off, glancing at the lifeless corpse of what used to be his son. “Please just go. Get out and never come back.” He orders, facing his son with his back to us. I turn away, wiping my eyes before looking up at Kenny. 

“You got that ride to Macon if you want it.” He says before walking towards his truck with his family. When we get to the front of the house, the three guys are waiting in Ohm’s car with mournful looks. “You guys can follow if you want.” Kenny adds, entering his vehicle. I let Pyper take Clementine in Kenny’s truck as I go to take the passenger’s seat in Ohm’s car with Delirious and Cartoonz in the back. It’s a silent trip as we leave the Greene Farm towards Macon and the next step in the game. Only one thought stays with me though. One of Shawn’s last words was my name…

**_҉_** **_The Whole World I Fear_** **_҉_**


	7. We Can’t Take Risks Like This!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Off the farm to an unknown - the Everett's drugstore - to meet some new characters.

Nobody says a single word the entire trip to Macon, which is about an hour, until Ohm stops behind Kenny’s truck between a liquor store and a hardware store. I get out of the car to see what is wrong, because this place seems deserted, but I know that we’re in danger. Kenny and the others in the ruck step out as well, “Kenny, what’s the hold up?” Ohm calls out, but not too loudly. The streets are full of empty cars, stores are boarded up, and we haven’t seen a single person since we came into town; I wouldn’t risk anything either.

“Out of gas.” At this, I signal for Delirious and Cartoonz to come out as well before shutting the door and walking over to Pyper and Clementine. Wordlessly, all of us still recovering from the shock at Hershel’s farm, we walk down the street in search of help. Or a simple gas station to see if we can siphon some, or push the truck to the destination with all the manpower we have. Just as we’re about to turn the corner, I hear Pyper let out a small gasp, so I turn to find myself looking at the Everett’s Drugstore. My group all stop in front of the store, inspecting it because some of us know what this is, and Kenny’s family continues walking past.

“Look!” Duck calls out, catching all of our attention. We turn around to see him pointing down the road at a person bending behind the car, but I don’t think it’s a person anymore. If Duck can catch our attention this immediate, then I don’t want to imagine the crowd he will draw of zombies. Before any of my group can react, Kenny steps into the clearing to shout at the man with a strong, clear voice.

“Hey there! You friendly? Truck’s run out of gas!” Kenny shouts, his voice echoing slightly through the seemingly abandoned street.

“Kenny, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I speak up, resting a hand on his shoulder, even when he towers over me easily.

“I know what I’m doing.” He tells me. He looks at me with father-like eyes, but gasps when he turns to look back at the man, who is no longer bending behind the truck. This time, getting a good look at a sickly pale zombie with a missing eye and a large portion of his mouth missing as well. Behind the truck, two zombies are feasting on a corpse, but we’re the next meal on their menu, and the other zombies appearing out of nowhere. Crawling out of cars and alleys, it only takes seconds for zombies to surround us and for the first time since I got here, I feel terrified. I treated this as a game, mostly because I couldn’t feel pain from my wound, and it just hit me that we could die. I can share the role of Lee with people from my world, so it wouldn’t make a difference if one or more of us are taken out of the picture. “WAAAH!” 

“AHHH! NO! NO!” Duck screams as he his tackled to the ground by a zombie that appeared out of nowhere and I clutch Clementine’s hand tighter, pushing her deeper into our group. Kenny’s quick reactions are not needed as a loud gunshot goes off and the zombie topples lifelessly on Duck and we look behind us to see a woman in office clothes holding a smoking gun. Duck scrambles away from the zombie as the woman fires off more rounds, protecting our group as an Asian man behind the woman yells.

“RUN!” He directs us all into the drugstore before locking the gate with a padlock and closing the main doors. We wait near the front before Katjaa moves to take her son to the stools in the back to get him cleaned up and I join her to see if he has any injuries. She may be a veterinarian, but I think I technically qualify more to deal with human wounds than she does. I put my poncho on the counter and carefully inspect the open areas around his neck to see if he has a bite or scratches. I grab napkins and a water bottle to help clean the blood off just as I hear a woman begin yelling.

“We can’t take risks like this!” I look up from my rushed work to see what kind of group we’re fighting with now. I count off each character, but my eyes rest on a lone man in the back that doesn’t belong in the game and I know he’s from my world. He taller than most of the men, but not more than Larry and he has a slim build with average muscles that I can see with his clothes. He has perfectly styled copper blonde hair swept to the right, light skin tone, and beautiful blue eyes that are a bit bloodshot. He doesn’t look as if he gets out much, but he seems to still have some slight muscles and he seems is in shape. He is wearing a light blue V-neck shirt with white stripes that has an olive green button jacket covering some of it, regular blue jeans, and black sneakers. He doesn’t look much of a fighter, but he would be a good person to send out on runs. Assuming he is fast.

“And we can’t just let people die either.” Carley defends, standing against Lilly and her father.

“When I say, ‘That door stays shut no matter what,’ I fucking mean it!” Lilly yells and I dearly hope she doesn’t yell any louder or she’ll draw in more zombies. I turn my head away from them to focus on cleaning Duck while searching for all and any wounds, but still keep a keen ear. “We don’t know who these people are; they could be dangerous!” To be fair, Lilly is making a very good point, and I would do the same if I were in her position. Perhaps not as loud or vulgar though…

“They could’ve lead them right to us!” Larry backs up and I can hear him the most clearly, even from all the way back here. I hope Cartoonz can handle him well since he is my designated co-leader and he seems the oldest out of us. I know that Larry is going to be pushing our buttons for a while, but I 

“Where the hell is your humanity? They would have died out there!” Carley defends and I am grateful for her, even if she should be a bit more cautious. Where is Cartoonz?

“We’re not going to hurt you! We are good!” He finally chirps in, but I highly doubt that will suffice Lilly and Larry, especially since Katjaa and I are working to clean off Duck. Larry will do anything to protect his daughter, and if Duck is bitten, then we’re all going to be in grave danger. I know Kenny will do the exact same thing for his family and this entire store will become a cross road where my group is a stray and in trouble. 

“What’s dangerous is a bunch people running outside and drawing attention to us!” Lilly, if you want to not draw attention, the best thing would be to keep quiet right now instead of yelling over each other. Not only did the zombies see where we went, but I’m sure they can hear us as clear as day

“Cartoonz’s right. We’re just regular folks, but we actually like helping people.” Kenny says, trying to be help but it sounds as if he is trying to step up on Lilly.

“You’ll have to excuse her.” Carley starts. I guess she’ll be the mediator in this round.

“The hell he or anyone will!” Lilly seriously has some anger issues she should deal with or this group will not last as long. “This is about survival; do you guys not see what’s happening?” 

“What’s wrong?” I hear Pyper whisper and my ears perk up at the sound of her voice. She’s probably talking to someone from our group; perhaps Clementine since the other guys wouldn’t interrupt the fight.

“I… I have to pee.” Clementine’s small voice breaks through and I groan. It must’ve worried Katjaa because she starts cleaning around the same area as I do. I whisper a quick apology, helping her clean faster since the fight seems to keep growing more heated.

“Hold it a little longer, Kiddo.” Pyper replies, still staying quiet enough to not have the fight turn to them.

“They’ve got kids, Lilly.” Glenn’s voice breaks the quick silence and he doesn’t sound like his TV show character, which is understandable. The Walking Dead TV show and the game used different characters for the voice and such, but it would’ve been nice to meet Steven Yeun.

“Those things outside don’t care.” Lilly states and the tension becomes so think I could cut it with a knife, but bringing a knife to party right now would end up with somebody getting injured.

“Maybe you should go join ‘em, then! You’ll have something in common!” Kenny backfires and I have to admit that it was a good comeback. I am not able to think that quickly.

“Goddamn it, Lilly! You have to control these people!” Shut up Larry. I swear, Cartoonz, you better side with Kenny during this conversation, just because of how rude Larry is being.

“Carley just ran out there!” Lilly defends to her father, and I feel sorry for the witness watching their expressions, even if I can’t see them.

“She’s a bitch!” Cartoonz states, taking Kenny’s side thankfully. We’re going to be sticking with Kenny for a majority of the game, so it is good to be on his good side and be loyal. The tension in the atmosphere starts to become suffocating and my heart begins to race faster, making my hands shake. It becomes more difficult to clean off and check Duck, but I push through the pressure.

“That’s what it takes.” That’s what you get when you let your heart win!

“Well you don’t have to be a dick.”

“Holy shit!” Larry exclaims and I want to smack him for using this language in front of Clementine. The world is ending right now, but I don’t want her to pick up any bad habits from these people or even my group. I’ll talk with Delirious later. “Son of a bitch! One of them is bitten!” I hear his voice closer and I’m guessing he’s looking in our direction finally. 

“No he wasn’t!” I snap back, turning to Larry with a fierce look and I see the new guy staring at me intensely, but it’s comforting.

“Hell he wasn’t!” Larry yells, pointing his finger at me. I stand up straight, stopping in helping Duck, and cross my arms to face Larry head on. “We have to handle this now.” Larry states, walking over to me, but I guard Duck and Katjaa as Kenny intercepts and stands next to me.

“Over my dead body.” Kenny threatens and I feel all eyes watching our every moment, but I don’t back down. Larry is not in control of either groups, and he has no right to make such a rash decision when this isn’t even his child.

“We’ll dig one hole.” 

“No! I’m cleaning him up! There’s no bite! He’s fine!” Katjaa defends, but I never turn my eyes away from Larry and his massive ego. I may respect that he is only trying to protect himself and his daughter, but his reasoning is illogical and very abrasive.

“Don’t you fucking people get it? We’ve all seen this happen. We let someone with a bite stay and-and we all end up bitten!” Larry tries to get other people to agree with him, but I think he’s probably the only one that would kill a child. I know Kenny would do anything to protect his family, even if he has to kill every person in this room, so I wouldn’t test him.

“Shut up.” Kenny growls as other people begin to crowd around us. I doubt anybody would intercept this fight though, not when it is this heated. 

“We gotta throw him out! Or smash his head in!” Are you kidding me, Larry? Nobody is going to go through with that, especially you.

“KENNY! STOP HIM!” Katjaa frantically screams, the fear in her voice penetrating through my heart and gathering small tears in my eyes. I blink them away, keeping an eye on every single movement Larry makes.

“Sue, what do we do about this guy?” Kenny asks, and I have to make a split second decision for my role as Lee. Side with Kenny, go neutral, or don’t side with Kenny.

“Dad, it’s just a boy.” Lilly starts and I see she is trying to reason with her father, but that is not working. It he can’t be reasoned by his own daughter; I don’t think anybody will be able to get through to him. “It...” She doesn’t get to finish her reasoning as he cuts her off.

“Lilly, I’ll handle this.” No, you won’t.

“Remember your heart, dad, you need to calm down.” Lilly reminds him, worry tracing her words and she reminds me of one of my hospital coworkers. “We’ll get this kid out of here.” Well at least she has a gentler approach, but I don’t understand why they can’t wait.

“Do what you got to do.” I state, implying using force.

“That’s what I’m thinking!” Kenny agrees and I don’t regret my answer. These people seriously cannot wait to see if Duck is bitten before saying they’re going to kill him or throw him to the zombies. I was hoping to have a rational discussion, but I guess you throw that away when the world ends.

“Everyone! CHILL THE FUCK OUT!” Carley intercepts and I can appreciate her. So I glance her way and give her a small smile.

“Nobody is doing anything!” Lilly finally stands up to her father, but she is quickly brushed off like nothing. Wow, this man is insolent.

“Shut up, Lilly!” Larry threatens before turning his attention on Carley. “And you. Shut the fuck up. They will find us, and they will get in, and none of this will matter.” Larry you should stop jinxing us, and playing fortuneteller. “But right now, we’re about to be trapped in here with one of those things.”

“What the hell are you talkin’ about?” Kenny defends, facing him even more. Now I’m just the main back up.

“He’s bitten! That’s how you turn.” Well, not technically, but he has the right idea.

“He’s not bitten!” Katjaa says while looking over him, now that most of the blood is off. This poor child is going to be so traumatized when he gets old. “Sue, stop this! It’s upsetting him!”

“Look, Larry, right? This is his son and his problem.” I state, softening my tone, but still keeping guard if he tries anything.

“Look around, dumbass. I got a daughter in here; you got a group in here.” I look over to my group, but that will not change my opinion on things. “Get your head out of your ass, girl.” If you want to convince a person to join your side, you shouldn’t insult them. I can’t get angry, but I can get insulted. 

“We all have people in here, and if you can be mature for a minute, we can figure this out. We don’t have to do anything rash or kill anybody when there’s another way.” I argue, stepping up to Kenny’s level. This may look strange with my height, but I don’t care.

“Yeah, with a shovel.” Larry shoots back, staring down on us.

“I’m going to kill him, Kat. Just worry about Duck!” Kenny yells to his wife, and I get ready to separate them. I am used to doing this from the bar drunks on the way to the apartment and back. My group has our back too if anything goes south.

“Pyper?” Clementine’s voice breaks through the tension and I glance over to her at the bathroom door, but not entering.

“Yes?” Pyper calls back awkwardly, since she hasn’t spoken since we got here.

“There’s someone in there.” 

“It’s just locked, Kiddo. The keys are behind the counter.” Pyper answers, turning back to our fight. Ever since this morning, I’ve been struggling to remember the game. I know that I was losing bits when we first got here, but now I can only remember how I felt about the events. I wonder if the others were the same, it would make sense.

“Hey, I’m not the bad guy here!” Larry chirps in and I lightly roll my eyes at him. He is the bad guy in this situation. “I’m just looking out for my daughter.” So his solution to protect his daughter is to take away another man’s son. That’s messed up.

“No, you’re just the guy arguing for killing a kid!” Kenny shouts back and I have to agree. 

“He’s covered in muck! She’ll find the bite! WATCH!” Larry screams, point to Katjaa, but I know there is no bite. I clean the areas he would be bitten at, but there was nothing.

“She won’t!”

“And if she does?” Larry asks the final question. “The first he’ll do is sink his teeth in his mom’s face. Then once she’s dead, he’ll pounce on your little group.” Larry states at me, and I roll my eyes once again. 

“I think my group can handle themselves, especially if it is a little boy.” I defend, trying to mediate and side with Kenny at the same time.

“A little boy? He’ll be an uncontrollable monster eater!” Larry shouts. I really wish people would stop yelling since it draws in the zombies.

“It’s not going to happen!” Kenny joins, trying to stand as tall as Larry does, but he towers over us. This is getting so out of hand.

“It is and we’re tossing him out now!” Larry screams, and I am forced to take action again. 

“Kenny, get him.” I sigh deeply, exasperated with this entire situation and wanting this to end fast.

“Happily.” Kenny replies, punching Larry in the face, but the joy doesn’t last for long. Larry hardly stumbles before swinging back at Kenny down on the ground, where he leans heavily on the counter. “Oh man…” Glad he didn’t punch me. This entire discussion is ruined by the sound of Clementine screaming and the growls of a walker from the other side of the room. I flip over to her in a blink of an eye to find her back away as a zombie crawls towards her trying to eat her.

**_҉_** **_And My Rumors Seem To Drown_** **_҉_**


	8. No, I’m Not Lee.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bryce is finally here! Good job going 7 - technically 6 - chapters without him, anyways onto the story.

“Jesus!” Somebody shouts, but it is muffled by the sounds of footsteps taking off. 

“CLEMENTINE!” Pyper shouts, being blocked behind all the people. Ohmwrecker and I fight through the people, both of us taking Clementine, and the new guy runs over to help by kicking the zombie off. Soon the new guy is tackled by the zombie and I give Clementine off to Ohm to help the man. I kick the zombie off in the shelf, giving the man a hand, and helping him off the ground. The zombie that attacked gets up with a groan, but it doesn’t last long as a gunshot rings through the air and it hits the floor. The man and I turn to look behind us and find Carley standing shakily, still pointing the gun at us, and I am so happy she saved us. 

“You guys okay?” She asks, snapping out of it and lowering the pistol.

“We’re good, thanks.” He says chipper and I smile at how positive he can be in a situation such as this. I hear many footsteps approaching the store from the outside.

“Uh… Guys?” Glenn calls out as the growls of zombies grow loud and there are bangs and scratches happening outside.

“Everybody down! Stay quiet!” Lilly whisper-yells and everybody des as she says. Ohm cuddles around Clementine in the next aisle as I hide behind with the man in a different one. I drone out everything as I see some of the boards shifting from the bangs on them. We’re saved once again by the sounds of a ton of gunfire and I gasp as it sounds very close to here.

“Is that the military?” I hear Pyper ask hopefully, quiet enough for the zombies to not hear.

“I don’t know.” Lilly responds and I remember that she’s in the Air Force. 

“Thank God for whatever it is.” Glenn offers and I agree with him. This situation would be a lot worse if the zombies didn’t have another distraction. The sounds disappear, and instantly Larry takes the opportunity to begin arguing again.

“We almost died because of this bitch and her itchy trigger finger!” Larry starts as we begin standing up again. “That was stupid! That was…” He is cut off by he yells in pain, falling to the ground, and clutching his chest. He’s having a heart attack, I see this occasionally at the hospital. I rush over to him at the same time as Lilly, kneeling down to examine him further.

As I begin to check what I can, Cartoonz asks,” What’s wrong with him?” I can’t get a read on his heart or his blood pressure, but I think he should have some medicine to help. Considering that Lilly knew this would happen.

“It’s his heart!” She replies.

“My pills…” He groans and I am right.

“Nitroglycerin pills?” I ask her for confirmation. I administer the medication to many patients when I work in the hospital.

“YES. We’re out. We’ve been trying to get into the pharmacy since we got here! Please, try to get in there! Behind the counter, where the pills are!” Lilly begs as I finish looking him over. There’s nothing I can do besides help get the pills as fast as we can.

“We’ll get in.” I say, standing up.

“Thank you so much.” Lilly says and I give her a small smile. She isn’t as bad as she seems. “We need nitroglycerin pills. Please get in there. I’ll keep an eye on my dad.” She says before helping her dad towards the back to lean on the wall.

“Everyone else should get comfy and look for anything useful. We could be in here for a while.” Kenny stands up, taking control of the rest of the people as Lilly is attending her father, but I will make the decision for my group with Cartoonz.

“I’m starting to think this drugstore isn’t a permanent solution.” Glenn comments, walking to face Kenny across the end of the aisle.

“You’re right. This ain’t exactly Ft. Knox.” Kenny agrees and I know the direction where this conversation is going.

“What are you thinking?” Cartoonz speaks up.

“We need as much gas as possible so we can all get out of downtown Macon. Fast.” Glenn explains and I know he has to do this. We need to get to the motel.

“I agree.” I state, taking part of the leader’s discussion too. The others stay back, knowing that Cartoonz and I can handle this correctly. I’m lucky they put in so much faith in a girl who they just barely met. Well, I guess it’s because I am smart and I am part of their world.

“Then I’ll head out and get gas. There’s a motel not too far from here, out towards the end of Peachtree. I’ll work my way towards it and then loop back, siphoning what I can.” Glenn explains his plan and I agree with it. It would be best for him to go alone for stealth.

“That’d be great.” I say and he turns to me.

“Well it’s gotta get done. Plus, I’m quick and I’m from Macon.” He says and I hope he survives the TV show.

“You from around here?” Cartoonz asks.

“Born and raised.” This would be a good person to have, but I don’t think he’ll stick around long. 

“Since you’re going, take this.” Pyper tells Glenn, handing him the walkie-talkie we got from Clementine’s house. I’m surprised she didn’t drop it and kept it on her. “I’ll pray you won’t need it, but if you do, Clementine has another.” Well thought out Pyper.

“Cool.”

“Check in with Clementine and try to get back here as soon as possible.” I order and I feel as if I should have a tiara and a staff.

“And you, what’s your name?” Kenny asks, turning to Lilly.

“It’s Lilly. My dad’s Larry.” Lilly explains harshly to Kenny, but I think he should have figured it out during that argument.

“Keep a good eye on him. These guys will work on getting you your medicine.” Kenny subtly orders and I nod at Lilly for confirmation. My group is going to have to handle covering all grounds of this situation and make peace with everybody. And you, your keep an eye on that front door.” Kenny turns to Doug all the way at the front. “You’re our lookout.” 

“It’s Doug, you got it.” He says with a bit of pride.

“And I’m Carley.” She says, walking behind Doug and reloading her pistol.

“Okay, Carley, you’ll shift in with Doug when he needs it. For now, get some rest. You’re a good shot and I’d like to keep it that way.” Kenny orders.

“You got it boss.” She says with a dutiful look.

“Now get him those pills.” Kenny tells Cartoonz and me, knowing we have control over the rest of our group. He walks off back to his family and our group gets together, far away enough that the others won’t hear. 

I start off giving Pyper orders since we need to talk with this new guy,” Pyper, you should go relax with Clementine over there.” I point over to the counter in the middle of the store. Why would they put a counter there?

“Okay, come on Kiddo.” Pyper says, walking with the small girl over there. Once they’re out of earshot, our group instantly starts.

“Bryce! You’re here too?” Cartoonz asks, giving him a hug, along with Ohm. “I can’t believe this!” I laugh awkwardly when he faces me. 

“I’m Sue.” I hold out my hand, almost yanking back as I feel a spark run through me as he takes it.

“My name is Bryce.” He says with a smile, which I return.

“I’m guessing you’re a YouTuber as well?” I say, releasing his hand and wishing I had pockets to place my hands.

“Yeah, I’m guessing you played this game too and you know what’s going on, right?” I question and he nods. “I have no explanation if you’re wondering. I’m just going to go along with the storyline because that’s what people do in movies and book.” I tell him.

“I am too. I woke up on the side of the road yesterday, Glenn found me, and so I decided to go along with him since he helped me. We came across another group, Lilly’s group, and came with them here.” Bryce explains calmly. Well he is taking this well; in fact, all of us are taking this well. Probably because we play so much video games and our minds are bigger than most people.

“Same with all of us.” Ohm starts explaining everything from the beginning. “Sue and her friend, Tiny, found Clementine yesterday then me and we all went to this farm. But we got kicked out this morning. And we came here when we ran out of gas. Oh, and we found Cartoonz and Delirious at the farm!” Ohm gestures to them.

“No way! That’s you Delirious?” Bryce asks with disbelief in his eyes and Delirious gives off a maniacal laugh that makes me smile.

“Yeah dude, told you I was sexy.” Delirious teases, which causes all of us to laugh. “Why the hell are your eyes so red?” He questions and Bryce rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

“My contacts. I slept with them in last night and they’re bugging me.” He responds and I give a nod at his explanation. I have my contacts in as well, but they don’t irritate me for wearing them for a long time, nor get too dry.

“Alright back to business.” I say and the others turn to me. “I don’t remember this game at all anymore, so we’ll have to figure it out as we go along. I’ll start talking to the people around here; you guys try to find some food for all of us and for any clues on how to get in the office.” I order with a smile still on my face. I’m glad to be stuck in a game with comedians.

“That’s a good idea.” Cartoonz agrees and I know we’re the leaders for sure since the others just do as they’re told. Cartoonz, Delirious, Ohm, and Bryce looking on the shelves and on the walls for anything while I walk over to Kenny and his family first.

**_҉_** **_To Drown_** **_҉_**


	9. This Shouldn’t Be Our Burden.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Most people hate Larry and Lilly, even Bryce - the innocent angel - but I'm going to take a different route.

“We can’t let anything happen to Ducky.” Katjaa says.

“I know hon.” Kenny replies just as I get to where they are.

“Hey Sue; maybe punching him wasn’t such a good idea.” Kenny speaks up and I lean on the counter to talk to the family. Today has been a very long day.

“There was worse we could’ve done.” I remind him, not regretting our actions.

“Says the girl who didn’t get punched in the mouth.” He rationalizes and I rather have to agree with him on that, but he could’ve told me to do it and I would’ve done it.

“You should’ve told me then.” I tease lightly, trying to ease the growing tension.

“Anyway, we, Kat and I, appreciate yours and your group’s support.” Kenny thanks with a small, honest smile too.

“Thank you, Sue.” Katjaa says with a smile as well, but I can tell that we’re all tired. After what happened at the farm, then this… I’m glad I can still walk.

“No problem. How’s Duck?” I question, knowing the poor boy has been through so much already. I’m not that good with children, but I care for them.

“He’s okay, it was just a shock.” Katjaa explains, looking worriedly at her child.

“We’re lucky as hell nobody got nabbed on the way in here.” Kenny mentions and I nod in agreement. There are a lot more of us than there are in the game, so I expect us to get injured more often.

“How’s she doing?” Katjaa asks, nodding her head in Pyper and Clementine’s direction. I turn around to find them just talking together peacefully.

“When Tiny and I first found her, we found out that her parents are dead. We heard some voice messages at her house,” I explain. 

“That’s awful, Sue.” Katjaa says with a mournful tone.

“Yeah, well…” Kenny drifts off. “She seems to be handling herself all aright.” He comments, starting a tiny argument with his wife.

“She’s just a little girl, Ken.”

“Sue says she spent days on her own. That takes toughness.”

“But you have no idea what sort of emotional damage is happening to her every second her family is gone.” Katjaa’s statement ends their argument as she won.

“How are you guys doing?” I ask, trying to move past the awkward pause.

“We’re just fine, considering...” Kenny says and I catch his drift.

“How about you, Duck?” I try to ask him, but I don’t get a response.

“We’ve been through a lot.” Katjaa answers for him, and I understand where the silence is coming from. Occasionally, I will have to deal with trauma patients before they head to the other clinic.

“So, Kenny,” I turn to him, “what’s the plan?” I ask, getting down to business.

“Hang tight, I suppose. Seems dangerous out there, so we ought to wait for things to clear up.” Kenny suggests and I nod my head again. For now, at least, all of us are a group and we can’t change that fact. With this fact, I turn around to talk with the others, but Kenny stops me.

“Sue, you got a second?” Kenny asks.

“Yeah,” I respond. He leads us away from his family, near the corner where the others can’t hear.

“Back on Hershel’s farm…” He starts and I know here this is heading and I go along with it because he needs the comfort of a friend.

“Yeah?”

“We didn’t even try to save him. That blood is on our hands, ya know?” Kenny mentions, but I shake my head.

“It happened too fast for us to do anything.” I try to convince him to see. I cried when Shawn died, but that doesn’t mean that it is anybody’s fault.

“I guess, but I can’t stop seeing him in my head.” Kenny admits and I know exactly how he feels, but I have an advantage he doesn’t. I see people of all ages die many times in my line of work, and I’ll see their faces for days. Shawn is just another face to me...

“This shouldn’t be our burden.” I tell him, coming close to tears again, picturing the entire event once again. I wish I was able to save him, but I have to play by the game.

“We killed that boy. We could’ve saved him together.” Kenny argues and I think I found his favorite hobby. He has been arguing all day.

“We did everything we could, but some things are out of our abilities. There was nothing we could’ve done to save Shawn.” I fight back, “Looking back it now, you think we could’ve changed things, but in the moment, we were helpless.” I try to reason.

“I guess,” he caves finally.

“Just try to move past this.” I advise him, wishing I could make the experience easier for him. I was exactly like him after I lost the patient I was regularly attending, but I didn’t have anybody to talk to give me advice. He wordlessly makes his way back to his family, letting turn around, and head in Larry and Lilly’s direction. I find them near the office door by themselves, Lilly checking over Larry with eagle-like eyes that scare me a bit.

“Hey, how’s your father doing?” I ask, kneeling on the ground.

“I’m not sure I got your name.” Lilly says with a slight glare and I know she doesn’t appreciate me siding with Kenny during the argument.

“I’m Sue,” I tell her, holding out my hand, which she thankfully shakes.

“Lilly. My dad’s Larry.” She repeats from earlier, which isn’t necessary. I let go of her hand and we both stand up. She is definitely taller than I am, especially with my moccasins. “I was just doing what I had to earlier.” She explains and I nod my head along with her.

“Everybody was too.” I tell her.

“Now his heart’s acting up again, and I’m powerless to do anything. And that violence before; with my dad, that didn’t help.” She states, staring me down. However, I still don’t feel guilty or regretful over my actions.

“Are you from here?” I ask; trying to divert the topic of conversation before anything happens.

“I work at Warner Robbins. The Air Force base.” She explains, but I’m not from here so I have no idea where that is.

“Are you a pilot?” I ask, interested since I’ve never met a pilot before.

“Nah, just mechanical admin stuff. I deal with a bunch of shitheads and bureaucrats all day, sometimes a plane if I’m lucky. You?”

“I’m a nurse at the local medical center in Woodinville, Washington. I mainly work in the emergency clinic, which is helpful in this case.” I explain, not wanting to explain having a side job on the internet. “Did you see anybody here when you came here?” I ask.

“No, this place was pretty wrecked. We pulled a couple bodies out of the office.” She informs and my eyes widen when I remember that they’re Lee’s older parents. In the office… I should check it out soon.

“Are you okay?” Lilly asks me and I give her a smile.

“Yeah, I’m good.” I tell her, trying to be convincing, but I just really want to go in the office.

“Did you know anybody here?” She asks concerned and I tell her the truth.

“Yeah, I knew the owners.” I tell her, not looking her straight in the eye. 

“I’m sorry. We found an older couple in the office. Dad hauled them out in the case they weren’t really dead.” Lilly explains, but it doesn’t help much.

I change the subject once again, “What do you think about all that’s going on?” I ask. I refer to the worldwide pandemic happening right now.

“What is there to think? The dead are up, walking around, eating people, and turning them into more… more of them. I mean, Jesus.” She says, looking down and I probably shouldn’t have asked her. I brought this up; I should try to comfort her.

“All we can do now is stick together and make it through this.” I tell her, trying to let her know that I’m here for her. I change the subject again, trying to get her mind off the pandemic, “What’s wrong with your father?” 

“He’s got a heart condition. He takes nitroglycerin tablets pretty regularly. I’ve seen a few bad attacks that he couldn’t get over and needed to go to the hospital.” She explains.

“I don’t think that’s an option right now.” I tell her morbidly, wishing I could do more than general nursing. “I can only do so much with the available resources.”

“I’m just trying to keep him relaxed.” Lilly explains and I start to take off my poncho. I hand it over to her, and she takes it with a confused expression.

“Here, he can rest his head on it.” I tell her, she places it behind his neck, and he relaxes into it.

“Thank you, it’s very kind of you.” She says and I nod before changing subject again. I should now be called Sue the Subject Changer.

“He’s got a temper.” I mention while concerned for the foul language he exposes Clementine to.

“Ah, fuck you.” Larry growls out, still resting on my jacket. Seriously Larry?

“Yeah… he doesn’t mean it.”

“Well…” I start, trying to pick out how to start gently. 

“Yeah?” She pushes and I look over to him, remembering how protective he is.

“Never mind, he’s a good man.” I compliment him, even if he is a massive jerk to me.

“He is; he just has his issues.” This time, Lilly is the one to change the subject. She nods towards Clementine, “Where’s your parents?” Again with the misconception!

“I’m not her sister, but they’re in Savannah the last I heard.” I tell her, watching Pyper laugh with Clementine over something.

“Oh, you guys aren’t together?” Lilly asks and I shake my head.

“No. My friend and I found her alone in her house when we needed help. She’d been going through this by herself.” I say with awe in my voice. Kenny is right, not every girl could do that… “I heard some messages on the phone; I don’t think her parents made it.” I whisper to Lilly, just to be sure Clementine doesn’t accidentally hears.

“Oh, well, she’s lucky to have you.” Lilly tells me and I smile at her. She is going to become a friend without a doubt. “I’m gonna get back to him.” Lilly says, sitting next to her dad again. I leave them alone and head to talk to Carley who is messing with a radio on the counter.

**_҉_** **_But I Won’t Let Them Take Me Down_** **_҉_**


	10. How’d You End Up Here?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not matter who they are - complete jerks - seems Sue is trying to befriend everybody. Oh well.

“You know how to handle a gun.” I comment, leaning on the counter next to Carley.

“Well you don’t fuck with a reporter, especially one that’s three days out from her last cup of coffee.” Carley says seriously and I don’t want to mess with her. 

“What are you messing with?” I ask while gesturing to the device not turned on.

“A radio. I can’t get it to work though.” Carley admits and I gesture for her to hand it to me.

“I’ll take a look.” I mess with the different knobs and buttons before turning it over and opening the battery latch. Unsurprisingly, when I lift it, there are no batteries in it and I begin laughing. “You need batteries, you know.” I tease.

“What now?” She asks shocked.

“You need batteries for it to work, you that, right?” I ask, putting the device down and turning to look at her. I giggle slightly at her since batteries are a common knowledge.

“Yeah, of course. I mean, yeah. No.” She admits and I smile at her.

“Its regular batteries, I can get the others to try and look for some. It only needs a couple anyways.” I tell her and she gives me a grateful look.

“Thanks, I wouldn’t even really know what to look for.” She tells me and I feel like slapping my forehead. Does she not use batteries ever?

“You cover yourself well.” I mention, wondering how she holds herself up. Especially since most of the store seemed to cower beneath Larry.

“Ha, really? I’m a disaster.” She admits and I give her a sympathetic smile. I think we’re all a disaster on the inside with everything going on, I know I am. 

“I didn’t notice.” I compliment her. At least I hope she takes it as a compliment.

“My news editor was eaten five feet away from me, and I would’ve joined her if it wasn’t for that dorky guy on watch over there.” She says and I glance backwards at Doug

“I’m so sorry.” I apologize for making her remember those horrible memories.

“She was an asshole, but, you know.” I do know.

“Yeah…” I decide to live up to my new name for myself. “Doug saved you?”

“Yeah, can you believe it? Those creeps or… or ghouls or whatever the hell they are, they were pulling our van apart and that guy, Doug, just came out to the rescue.” She explains and I can see a flicker in her eyes. She has a crush on Doug. I think it’s from the fact that he saved her life and not that she knows him well enough to like him in that way.

“I guess you never see the Kent Clarke.” I reference, but she gives me a confused expression. Does she live under a rock? “Superhero reference.” I tell her and she nods her head.

“He’s kind of cute, in that parent’s basement sort of way.” She admits and I coo at her.

“So cute?” I mutter and she snaps out of her trance.

“Huh? Oh… nothing.” She says but I raise my eyebrows at her expectedly. I’m a girl; I can catch onto her, not so, subtle hints. I see that she is uncomfortable with the situation so I switch topic for her sake, but I will get it out of her later.

“So, how’d you end up here?” I ask, keeping the smirk off my face for now.

“We drove up to cover the Cherry Blossom Festival, real hard-hitting stuff.” She says sarcastically with an eye roll and I let out a snort.

“Totally worth it.” I tease, before leaving her to talk to Doug outside. “Anything yet?” I ask as Doug keeps looking out of the door.

“Nothing, luckily. Want to step outside, have a look around?” He offers and I feel like slapping him. Was that supposed to be an insult?

“I like living to be honest.” I tell him, giving him a look of disbelief. Carley, what do you see in this man? He is a little on the crazy side.

“No, the gate out there is closed. We can hang out in front of the store and be fine.” He explains and I feel my muscles relax next second. Okay so he is smart.

“Alright then, let’s go.” I tell him, leading the way outside silently. Crouching as close to the wall as I can, watching the zombies in the street. On screen, they look okay, but in real life, I feel very sick looking at them and the smell makes it so much worse. “No…” I whisper.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Doug says, getting a full-view of them and I am empathetic with him right now.

“They just…” I trail off, not wanting to finish the sentence, and Doug does it for me.

“Eat. As far as I can tell, that’s all they care about.” Doug says and I observe a group of zombies feasting one a person and I gag, but hold it down. This is far worse than anything I’ve seen at the hospital.

“So if you get caught…?” I ask, trying to figure out exactly what he has seen.

“They eat you, and whatever is left comes back as one of them.” I think I will lay off blood and guts movies once I get back to my world. Or horror films in general…

“How…?” I trail off, gagging once again as I see quite a gruesome scene and bones snapping harshly. I close my eyes wincing and trying to imagine the pain the man would feel if he were alive for that.

“I think it might be more than a couple of days all this gets sorted out.” I have to agree since the game lasted for many months and I don’t even want to think of missing all that time in my world.

“I think so too. We should lower our voices; I don’t want to draw any attention.”

“Good idea.” He whispers and I remain silent to investigate everything to make sure there aren’t valuable resources we need. My eyes instantly fall on the hardware store we passed on the way here. 

“Did you guys try to get weapons from there?” I question, motioning to the store and he looks.

“I did, but it was too risky. Then a bunch of guys showed up and they tried…” He trails off, sadness washing over his face and my curiosity takes over.

“And?” 

“I think they’re most of who you see wandering around out there.” I look back around the area, wondering how the light pole was knocked down, when I see Lee’s brother under it. Poor guy…

“How’d you end up here?” I ask, wondering since I asked Carley the same thing.

“I moved here to live with my uncle. He does tech stuff and it just made sense.” He’s local then. “You knew the owners of this place, didn’t you?” I ask dimly.

“No, not really. I’ve only been here for a couple months and I spend a lot of time…” If it has anything to do with male fantasies, then I don’t want to know.

“On the computer?” I pray for him to say yes.

“No. Just, doing my own thing.” I am probably giving myself nightmares tonight with everything I’m imagining. “What about you?” Thank goodness for the subject change.

“I live in Washington and work there as a nurse. I’m not from here, but I did know the owners.” I tell him the basics.

“Oh, friends, family? They around?” Doug asks and I can answer honestly.

“Not in this area. Over in New Mexico and Arizona, where our homeland is.” I tell him smoothly, but I see some zombies are looking around and I am getting antsy. “Let’s get back inside.” 

“Okay.” He agrees, following me back in the drugstore before staying at the door as lookout. Well, I have talked to everybody in the store. I’ll check in with the others then take Clementine and Pyper with me to check the office in the back. I walk to the shelves, where all the guys are scavenging intensely, and joking around a bit.

“Hey guys,” I greet, leaning on the shelf next to Ohm. “If you find any batteries, you should fix Carley’s radio.” I tell them, leaving no time for responses before taking off towards Pyper and Clementine. “Ladies, want to come with me to the office?” I ask, gesturing to the door in the back.

“Are we in trouble Principal Monrova?” Pyper teases, getting off the floor as Clementine jumps off the box. Pyper and I tease each other and joke a bit more while walking to the office, which causes Clementine to laugh at some of the conversation. This is the exact reason why Pyper wanted to start doing YouTube in the first place... And the fact she was bored. We stop in the doorway as soon as we see the bloody mess made on the floor, even though we should be used to it. The exit is blocked as well as the door leading to the pharmacy and the makeshift bed on the floor is covered in blood with the trail leading outside. Clementine leans on the wall next to the door, Pyper goes to move the pallet leaning on the dresser, and I bend to pick up the family photo. In the photo, Lee and his family are there, and this fact makes my heart beat faster and I feel tears coming to my eyes. If Lee is real, as real as he can be in this world, then Pyper and I took over his life by finding Clementine first. I wonder if we waited for a few more moments, then we would have heard the car crash from him and the Sheriff… I shake my head, trying to physically forget about it and walk over to Clementine, kneeling to her height.

“Does you everybody out there seem fine to you?” I question, knowing her opinion about Lilly and Larry is going to be low, but I wonder if she’ll say anything about the others.

“Yeah, well, maybe not the sick guy.” She says cutely and I give her a reassuring smile.

“Then try to stay away from him. Alright?”

“There was that thing in the bathroom. It tried to get me.” She looks down at the ground, I frown remembering how close it was before Ohm, Bryce, and I got to it.

“Yeah it did.” A cane falls from between the desk and pallet, but Clementine is still talking to me to comment about it.

“But you guys stopped it.” I almost laugh, remembering the major height differences between the guys and me. 

“Yeah we did.” 

“Can you guys do that more?”

“We’re not going hunting for them.” It would be a senseless move to start killing every zombie on the streets, especially since more join them every day.

“I mean get the dangerous ones.”

“Of course.”

“Good.” She responds and I have to change the subject once again. I don’t like this part in this world; I have to be the one to continue a conversation.

“I’m going to keep searching.” I tell her before going to the other side of the room and pulling out drawers. There’s a medical kit on the table, but we don’t need it right now. I hear groan coming from behind me and I turn to start laughing at the scene of Pyper trying to move a desk by herself. I never told her about this world being triggered by events and that she needs Clementine to help her move it. “You okay over there?” I tease her, still giggling while talking.

“Shut it Monrova.” She snaps, turning around to point at me threateningly.

“Can I help?” Clementine offers hopefully, moving away from the wall. I sit on the table to watch them, but not to actually help since moving a desk doesn’t need three people. Times like these, helps me forget the world has gone down under.

**_҉_** **_I Won't Let Them Take Me Down_** **_҉_**


	11. I Think We Can Make It Work.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're learning more about the main characters - my best friend and me - that are actually facts.

“Of course!” Pyper perks up and they move to get in position. “Watch your fingers on the drawers.” Pyper reminds and they begin moving it.

“Ugh!” The grunt in effort.

“How you doing?” Pyper asks, trying to make conversation with the little girl. I wonder how this will go since I’ve been doing it to everybody else.

“Yeah. It’s not that heavy.” Clementine jokes and I snort.

“I know,” Pyper says defensively. “I meant with everything going on outside.” 

“It’s not good,” Clementine admits solemnly. This poor little girl had to go through the first few days without anybody to help take care of her, but she has us now. For how long though?

“No, it’s not.” Pyper agrees, resting her hand on Clementine’s shoulder.

“But I think it’ll be ok.” Clementine is so positive, why does she have to go through this?

“I think that too.” Pyper tells her as she goes back in her position. “Let’s go again.”

“Ugh… grr… ugh.” They grunt harder this time, pulling the desk farther than last time.

“Do you have kids?” Clementine asks innocently and I have to burst out laughing again, imagining Pyper and I getting by with kids in our small apartment. Pyper and I would have to take shifts for taking care of the baby since I have work and she does school and YouTube. Neither of us is in a relationship, so I can’t picture who the father would be. Pyper laughs as well while pushing rotating the desk by herself.

“Uh, no. We’re too young.” Pyper answers while I keep laughing. “What do your parents do?” Pyper asks and I’m actually curious about this, so I soften my giggle to a stop.

“My mom is a doctor and my dad is an engineer.” 

“Woah, that’s impressive.” I comment, and they both glance at me real quick.

“What’s your job?” Clementine asks and I quickly answer this, before Pyper panics.

“I’m a nurse.” Clementine looks to me, Pyper holds her hand over her heart, and lets out a silent breath dramatically. “Pyper doesn’t have a real job. She is going to college and has a hobby of making people laugh online.” I explain, trying not to give her the wrong impression. For many applications, we have been asked if we do adult entertainment… We don’t.

“Like… um… a comedian?” Clementine asks hopefully. I’m surprised she knows that word; kids aren’t as smart these days.

“Exactly like that.” Pyper responds. “Sue does it too with me. Our friends out there do it too I think.” She adds as an afterthought, taking her sweet old time with that desk.

“The ones with the funny names?” 

“Yeah them, and the tall guy, Bryce.” Pyper answers, concentrating more on the desk now. I swear she can read my mind sometimes. At the last push against the wall, Clementine jumps back in to help but it doesn’t end too well.

“OWWW!” Clementine yelps, clutching her finger and we rush over to her. 

“Are you okay?” Pyper asks. I walk over to the table I was sitting on and open the medical kit; I think my nursing ability is going to be a huge bonus for us in this game world.

“I hurt my finger.”

“Is it bleeding?” I question, going into my nurse mode while looking through the kit.

“A little.” She responds as Pyper lifts her onto the desk. I come back quickly with a disinfectant spray and a Band-Aid. 

“Alright let me see.” I order and she gives me her finger without hesitation.

“Pyper?” Clementine asks, while I concentrate on figuring out how bad the wound is.

“Yeah?” She responds from behind me.

“What if my parents come home and I’m not there?” 

“Then they’ll be able to find us.” Pyper says instantly, wanting to comfort her.

“Yeah. Okay. We should keep a lookout.” 

“It’s going to sting for only a second,” I tell Clementine once they finish their conversation. I had to wait for them to finish so I could warn Clementine since kids hate when I do it without telling them. She nods and I spray making her flinch and squeak. I give her a sympathetic smile before wrapping the bandage around her finger.

“I’ve got my walkie-talkie in case they try that way.” Clementine says, no longer wincing and looking at her warrior wound.

“Stick to us until then, okay?” Pyper reminds as I put the spray back into the medical kit. Clementine stays on the desk as Pyper takes the remote from the desk drawer and turns the TV on. For a moment I feel hope running through me, but it crashes down as only static comes on. We both groan and she shuts it off quickly, handing the device to me as she tries to open the pharmacy door. Of course, it has to be locked…

“Let’s head back into the store.” I tell them, opening the door for them to walk through. They head off to the counter as I head over to the guys, where they are now talking in the aisle. “Hey.” I say, pocketing the remote in my right boot. Usually, I would have my phone, but we came here with nothing.

“Hey,” they all respond and Bryce starts digging in his pockets. He pulls out an energy bar and hands it over to me.

“We already ate and gave some to everybody.” He answers and I take it. As long as everybody else ate, I think before he adds on. “Well, besides Lilly and Larry. They’re too mean.” He frowns and I take a deep breath. It’ll be important for all of us to get along as much as we can and this can be a first step to that… 

“Thanks, I’ll go give it to her.” I say, turning just as the guys all have a look of shock and disbelief on their face. I walk away, not looking back before heading to Lilly’s direction. I kneel beside her once again, I hand her over the energy bar, “Here, you need to eat to keep your strength up.” I tell her.

“Thanks, that’s very sweet of you.” Lilly says, and now I know that I’m on her good side since she didn’t turn me away or be insulting in any way. “Did your little girl eat?” She asks, glancing over to Clementine who is now playing a game with Pyper and the guys, except Cartoonz who is with Carley. 

“Yeah, my group made sure to feed the kids.” I tell her, giving her an encouraging smile to take it. “I think it’s important to get along.” I tell her, holding out my hand. “How about we start over?” I ask with pleading eyes. My group may not want to be close with the so-called antagonists in the game, but I know that they are not bad people and don’t deserve that kind of treatment. 

“I think we can make it work.” Lilly states with a small smile and shakes my hand. After a second, I let go and stand up, heading over to my group once again. 

“Fuck you!” I hear Delirious snaps, pointing at Bryce, but a huge smile is still present on his face as he laughs maniacally. I look to Bryce and let out a giggle as I see him without any cards as the others have a few laying in front of them. Of course, in a zombie apocalypse I would end up with a group who wants to play an intense game of Uno… Just my luck.

“Clementine is right in front of you!” Pyper snaps, smacking his arm not too hard. He gives her a sheepish smile, which she responds by looking away quickly and a light blush on her face that nobody else sees. I shake my head softly at her and before I can say anything, the radio Cartoonz and Carley are working on turns on for all of us to hear. 

“WABE urges you to stay indoors, and avoid any contact with individuals you suspect may have been exposed.” I turn my head to listen closer, seeing the others doing the same.

“The station is okay!” Carley announces cheerfully.

“In the event of a full… uh, my producer is telling me we have to get off the air.” My faint shed of hope disappears just as the newscaster is leaving. I’m not sure what I was hoping for, but I guess that he would say that I’m insane in a mental institution or I’m lucidly dreaming. 

“Steve…” Another voice comes from the radio.

“WABE wishes you and your loved ones the strength to endure through this crisis.” The newscaster starts signing off. “God bless you all. God bless the United States of Amer-” The station is cut off before he can finish the sentence and I bow my head, knowing what happened. I focus back on the group, getting ready to join them in their next game of Uno, but then Clementine’s radio goes off.

“Hey there, this is Glenn and uh… I’m kinda in a jam here.” Glenn’s voice comes through and I immediately make my way over to her, kneeling next to Clementine. “Uh, little girl, if you’re there can you put your sister on the phone?” That’s a walkie-talkie, Glenn, not a phone. “On the talkie? Or whatever?” Well, at least he corrected himself. Clementine hands it over to me as Cartoonz walks over as well since he is the designated co-leader.

“Sue here, what’s the problem?” I ask, getting straight into the story once again. 

“So… I’m down at that motor inn and well I-I’m stuck.” Glenn admits sheepishly and I hold back a groan. We’re going to have to go get him now…

“Stuck you say?” Cartoonz asks for confirmation, squeezing my hand on the button before I shrug his hand away.

“Yeah, I, uh, saw a chance to get some supplies for the group and a bunch of the roaming ones got the jump on me.” He explains. “I’m hiding here, but they won’t leave.” Now this is where the problem starts. I’m sure that none of us has killed a human, or anything resembling a human, and I’m not sure how the others will handle real-life zombies. Pyper could hardly handle it afterwards and I burst out crying when Shawn died, so this trip isn’t going to be the greatest.

“What’s up?” Kenny questions, coming from the other side of the aisle. 

“Glenn’s stuck at the motor inn.” I answer nonchalantly, not letting anybody know the worries running through my head. Well, besides Pyper, but she wouldn’t tell anybody.

“I’m going to talk to the others about this and we’ll send some people to come help you.” I comfort him, knowing it must be terrifying to be trapped by undead man-eaters.

“Phew, awesome.” Relief is thick in his voice. “I’ll sit tight ‘til then.”

“Stay safe.” I remind him before hooking the walkie-talkie in my other boot. I see Clementine eyeing it so I kneel to her level. “Hey Kiddo, can I keep this until we get Glenn back?” I ask sweetly, hoping she’ll say yes so I won’t have to take it without her permission. She nods softly, “I’ll keep it safe, don’t worry.” I tell her, rubbing her hat. Now to actually help Glenn. This is going to be difficult…

**_҉_** **_Down, Down, Down_** **_҉_**


	12. Explanation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First - hypocritical - author's note that ruins the story immersion.

Always hated when other authors wrote a note and ruined the immersion. Now I'm a hypocrite. I originally took down this story on other sites because I felt uncomfortable writing fanfiction. This hasn't changed much, but I worked too hard on this to hide it.

Cordially,

SueLilith (ImpavidDezmona)


End file.
